07x03 - Lighters/Fossils/Hockey Pucks/High-Pressure Cylinders

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
today on "how it's made"...

Lighters...

...fossils...

...hockey pucks...

...and high-pressure cylinders.

It's a case for combustion.

Spin the wheel,
and you have an instant flame.

Flip the lid,
and the flame is extinguished.

A version of the lighter first
appeared in the 19th century.

At the time,

It was more of a conversation
piece than anything,

A curiosity that received
plenty of interest.

Lighters aren't a novelty
anymore,

But they're still used
every day.

To make lighter cases,

A machine uncoils brass from
a spool, pulling it to a press.

The press stamps the brass
repeatedly

To shape both the top
and bottom parts of the case.

A worker collects them

And places them
on a revolving table.

Another worker slides on a hinge

To link the top
and bottom pieces.

An electrode welds the hinge
to the case.

Then a mechanical arm
knocks them down a chute

To a worker who inspects
the welding job.

As the cases move
on a conveyor system,

They get a quick buff
to prepare them for plating.

The lighter cases

Are now plunged into a series
of washing solutions and rinses,

Followed by a nickel solution...

Then a chrome one.

It's the finishing touch
for the lighter cases.

It's time to move on
to the inner workings.

A die shapes a piece of steel
to make the inside cases.

Mechanized arms then place
a tube and plate in the case.

The tube
will hold the flint stone,

And the plate will form the top
of the inner case.

Epoxy seals them in place,

And the cases move through a
curing oven to harden the epoxy.

A worker arranges
a pile of flint wheels

So that the teeth
are in the proper direction.

Grippers load the flint wheels
into an assembly jig.

These cams will eventually act
as a catch for the lighter lid.

A gripper places the cam in
the jig beside the flint wheel.

The assembly jig now receives
little brass eyelets

Between the flint wheel
and the cam.

The machine slides the
inner case over the flint wheel,

Cam, and eyelet.

And an automated device
rivets it all together.

A machine lowers a wick to the
eyelet and threads it through.

Blades move in from the side
and snip the wick.

This machine stuffs pieces
of cotton into the inner case.

The cotton will soak up

And retain fuel
when the consumer adds it later.

Steel plungers tamp down
the wick and cotton.

Here a die punch
cuts a piece of felt to size.

Automated arms pick up the felt

And shove it into the top
of the inner case.

Here grippers place
a flint spring in the case

Just over the flint stone.

Pneumatic screwdrivers
drive the screw home.

A rubber wheel spins the flint,

And sparks fly as a light sensor
checks their intensity.

After the flint check,

Technicians install
the inner unit in the case.

They check the fit.

They test the function.

And they're off to be shipped.

Narrator: it takes many hours of
work to make a fossil replica.

Real dinosaur bones,
millions of years old,

Are used to make
life-size renditions.

You'll find
these fossil facsimiles

On display in museums.

They're very exact,

Almost indistinguishable
from the real thing.

The dinosaur looms large once
again, brought back to life

Thanks to an evolution
in casting techniques.

Building these replicas is a job

That can involve both high-tech
know-how and hands-on skill.

They start with the real thing,
an ancient fossil.

This is a dinosaur's
upper jawbone.

They laser-scan it, producing
a three-dimensional image.

The scanner feeds the image
to a computer.

Then it's time to go to print.

But this isn't
an ink-and-paper job.

This tray is filled
with plaster powder.

The printer outlines the jawbone
shape with a liquid hardener.

The result is this plaster cast
of the jawbone.

There is a more traditional way
to make a fossil replica.

They arrange plywood around
a fossil of this dinosaur foot.

Then they lay sheets of clay
on the wood

And press it
to the dinosaur bone.

With a clay pick, they make
a 90-degree angle at the bone

To give it a clean line.

Using more clay,

They build a spout and a riser
at one end of the bone.

They etch an i.d. Number
into the clay.

Then they paint liquid rubber
onto the fossil

And the abutting clay.

They place fiber-glass sheets
on the rubber,

Wetting it down
with a polyester mix first.

They work the fiber glass
into the shape of the fossil,

Then paint a red gel coat
onto it.

It's a color code
to identify the species --

A duckbilled dinosaur
called a lambeosaurus.

Now they have one side
of a mold.

When both sides of the mold are
fabricated, they pair them up,

And this fossil mold
is complete.

The rubber layer inside
picks up the fossil's detail,

While the outer fiber-glass one
will hold the rubber rigid

As they pour a polyester-
and-water mix into the spout.

It takes 45 minutes to harden.

And now it's time
for the big reveal.

It's an exact replica.

Next they form
part of the skull.

They make this part
with hollow fiber glass

Instead of solid polyester.

This will ease the load
on the steel framework later.

All the larger bones are cast
with hollow fiber glass

Because of weight issues.

This is a mastodon head.

They mold up to 300 pieces to
produce these skeletal replicas.

On one side of the skeleton,

They literally flesh out
some details.

They sculpt scales
onto a clay-like fill

To demonstrate how a dinosaur
would look with some skin.

The other side
remains bare bones

To give the viewer
an inside look.

A little glue
completes the spine work.

Then they mount the skull.

When the front leg goes on, this


It's a real museum piece.

Narrator: early hockey pucks
were made of wood.

But for informal games,

Even objects like stones
would suffice.

Eventually rubber became
the puck material of choice.

The modern puck is three inches
wide by one inch thick.

Pucks are usually frozen
before games

To reduce their bounce
on the ice.



Go into making
these rubber hockey pucks.

The recipe begins
with natural rubber.

Two types of oil
make the rubber durable.

Certain minerals act as curing
agents and antiaging agents.

And a form of coal dust,
called carbon black,

Serves as a filler.

Workers feed the ingredients
into a preliminary mixer --

First the slabs
of natural rubber,

Then antioxidants to lengthen
the rubber's life-span,

Then one type of oil to help
blend in the dry chemicals,

Then another type to refine
the rubber's rigidity level,

Then additives such as
calcium carbonate and sulfur

To help cure the rubber
during the molding process,

And finally,
the carbon black filler.

After 10 to 15 minutes
of this preliminary blending,

The mixture goes down a chute
and onto a conveyor belt,

Which transports it to a machine
called the mill mixer.

It will perform the final mix.

At this point,
workers add more natural rubber.

Then they add another,
harder rubber

That will make the hockey pucks
more resilient.

The recipe is formulated
to produce a very hard rubber,

One that can stand up
to the rigors

Of repeated blows
from a hockey stick.

It's critical that
the ingredients blend evenly.

That's why workers
continually cut the rubber

While it's mixing.

In the company lab,

Technicians evaluate a sample
from each batch.

This device
is called a rheometer.

It analyzes what's called
the curing curve --

How the rubber hardens
and to what degree.

A computer compares the curing
curve to the quality model.

If they match,
the batch gets the go-ahead.

The rubber hasn't yet
gone through the curing process,

So it's still malleable.

An extrusion machine
squeezes it through a round die.

This produces logs about 40
inches long and 3 inches wide --

The exact diameter
of the hockey puck.

The next machine slices each log
like a loaf of bread

Into 39 pieces.

Each piece is 1.1 inches thick.

These pieces are called preforms

Because at this stage they're
not quite fully formed pucks.

Workers put them
into compression molds

That look like
giant muffin pans.

Each mold cavity

Is the exact size
of the finished hockey puck.

A cover goes on.

Then the molds
go into a curing press,

Which compresses the preforms

And heats them
to 300 degrees fahrenheit.

It takes 18 minutes
for the rubber to cure.

The preforms come out
as hockey pucks --

Rock-hard and 1/8 of an inch
thinner than before.

They cool for 24 hours.

During the compression phase,

Excess rubber oozed out
and stuck to the pucks,

So workers run
each and every puck manually

Through a trimming machine.

There is excess rubber
stuck to the molds, as well.

The factory scrapes it off,
grinds it up,

And uses it as filler
in subsequent batches.

The mold embedded a dimple
pattern on the puck's edge.

This texture creates friction

Between the puck
and hockey stick.

The more friction,
the better stickhandling

And the greater control
the players have.

Narrator:
high-pressure cylinders

Are metal containers
designed for storing gases

And for dispensing them
at high pressure.

Think fire extinguishers
and oxygen tanks.

The contents
are often flammable,

So the challenge

Is how to make these often
lifesaving cylinders safe

Yet still easy enough
to use.

These cylinders
are made out of chromoly,

A steel alloy containing
chromium and molybdenum.

They start with disks that
have already been heat-treated

At 1,300 degrees fahrenheit
for 36 hours.

Now they go into the first
of five hot chemical baths

That will help the metal flex.

After a quick drying period,
each disk moves over a die.

This process
is known as deep drawing

Because a series of machines
will gradually draw out the disk

To the shape of a cylinder.

A mandrel press
begins stretching the metal,

Applying up to 800 tons
of force --

The weight
of two fully loaded jumbo jets.

Shaping the cylinder
from just one piece of metal

Means it will be seamless,
and that's a key safety feature.

After the disk comes through,

Steel jaws clamp down
on the mandrel,

And the cylinder slips off.

Now another press
stretches it even more.

This machine
applies 250 tons of force

To continue forming
the walls of the cylinder.

That liquid is a coolant
to prevent overheating.

The cylinder goes through
as many as three presses,

Each one
stretching it another 60%.

This press forms the closed
bottom end into a concave shape.

That reinforces the base,
helping the cylinder

Withstand up to a thousand times
more pressure

Than a can of cooking spray.

A band saw now slices up to


Which will become the top
of the cylinder.

Next, a torch heats that end
to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit

For 90 seconds.

In a process
called hot spinning,

A worker then places
the cylinder in a device

That spins it at 1,000 rpm.

As a torch maintains
the temperature,

The machine shapes the edge
of the searing-hot metal

Into a curve.

In this way, the machine
gradually closes off the top end

And shapes two rounded areas
called the shoulder and neck.

Making these areas curved

Is the best way
to contain pressurized gases.

Curves spread out the stress
on the metal.

A sharp corner would focus
the stress in one spot.

The only exit for gases will be
through a valve at the top.

Workers then place 18 cylinders

In a furnace heated to more than


After 90 minutes, a machine then
dunks them in a chemical bath

To cool for six minutes.

The cylinders are then reheated
to 1,200 degrees fahrenheit

For 90 minutes,
then left to cool for two hours.

These transitions
between hot and cold --

A process called tempering --

Strengthen the metal
and make it somewhat flexible.

A cutting tool carves open the
neck and cuts threads inside it.

This provides the best seal when
the valve screws into the neck.

Workers
clean the cylinder's surface

Using a process
called shotblasting.

A machine shoots these tiny
steel pellets at the cylinders

At very high speed.

They test the cylinder
by filling it with water.

Then they seal it off
and immerse it in water.

The machine then adds more water
to the cylinder

And gauges how well it
withstands the extra pressure.

They rinse the inside
with hot water,

Then dry and clean it
by blowing in some purified air.

Next, a hydraulic press indents
the shoulder of the cylinder

With legally required markings,

Such as the manufacturing date
and the serial number.

A machine then stretches
a steel collar over the neck.

Another device, called a valver,
tightly screws on the valve,

Creating a leakproof seal.

After a trip to the paint shop,

These high-pressure cylinders
are ready to be filled

And keep it all under control.

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