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20x07 - U Locks/Teepees/Croissants/Rolling Luggage

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "How It's Made". Aired: July 6, 2005.*
Watch/Buy Amazon



Television series that documents how various everyday products are made.

20x07 - U Locks/Teepees/Croissants/Rolling Luggage

Post by bunniefuu »

Narrator:
cycling shoes have cleats

For bolting the foot
to the pedal.

The cyclist is connected
to the bicycle, body and soul.

Bike shoes with clip-in cleats
are a fairly recent innovation.

The first versions
appeared in france in the 1980s

And were modeled after
alpine ski bindings.

Avid cyclists are very attached
to their bicycles

Through special shoes
that clip to the pedals.

Cycling shoes transfer power
from the foot to the pedal

More efficiently
than ordinary shoes.

To start, an overhead press

Drives cookie-cutter shapes
called dyes

Through layers of fabric
to punch out shoe parts.

They use breathable nylon mesh
for these upper pieces

And synthetic leather
for parts like the shoe toe box.

Synthetic leather is rigid,
waterproof, and lightweight.

It takes 18 pieces of fabric
to make one cycling shoe.

This assembler pieces together
the upper mesh parts

And stitches on
synthetic leather trim.

She adds a synthetic leather
side with vent holes.

It gives the cycling shoe
structure.

With one half of
the cycling shoe now complete,

It's ready for the other half.

She joins it to the other half
at the toe end

Using high-density nylon thread.

The next part is the heel cup.

It's a piece
of molded polyurethane

That adds strength and form
to the back of the cycling shoe.

She stitches on trim

And joins the heel cup
to the rest of the cycling shoe.

Next, using superstrong
kevlar thread,

She sews the toe box and tongue
to the cycling-shoe assembly.

The configuration leaves
open areas for mesh vents

At the front of the shoe.

The shoe upper is now complete
and ready for the inner sole.

It's made
of high-density plastic.

The employee tacks it to
a foot mold using small nails.

He sets it aside

And places a pair of shoe uppers
in hot and rounded clamps

To warm them to a pliable state.

He stretches each upper
around a foot mold

With a tacked inner sole.

Then it's over to a machine
that oozes epoxy --

A high-strength glue that is
impervious to weather extremes.

The machine grips and folds
the cycling-shoe upper

To the sole

As it applies epoxy
to seal them together.

The epoxy hardens quickly,

And a computer-controlled
grinder gets rid of the excess.

Now a spinning brush applies
a different epoxy

That will need heat
to activate it.

At the next station,

A worker applies a release agent
to a mold.

He inserts
a piece of carbon fiber --

A high-tech composite material.

He adds nylon for texture.

He flips the upper part
of the mold,

And the two parts come together
like a waffle iron.

Inside, the layers melt into one
and then cool,

Creating a tough and lightweight
outer sole.

They punch out vent holes
and trim the edges of the sole.

They paint designs on to it
and add a nonslip clear coat.

He glues tough nylon mesh
over the vent holes

To keep the dirt out.

He tapes the cleat mount
onto it.

It will be
more securely installed

For the individual cyclist
at the bike shop.

And after
an application of epoxy,

It's into the oven.

At the same time,

He heats the glue-covered
outer sole in another oven.

The heat activates the epoxy.

It's time to join the outer sole
and the shoe upper.

He carefully aligns them
and presses them together.

He then sets the shoe
on a cradle,

And hydraulic pushers
apply pressure as the glue sets.

He presses the foot form
that's still inside the shoe

Onto a sharp post,

Stabilizing it
to pull the shoe off.

The next employee installs
a cable-closure device

That acts like a shoelace
but doesn't become tangled.

She adds
a ratchet-style plastic buckle.

Crafted by hand
using high-tech materials,

It's taken about an hour
to make these cycling shoes.

And now they're ready
for a spin.

Narrator: for centuries,

Yurts have been home to herders
on the asian plateau.

They continue now for
practicality and portability.

Today yurts used as second homes
or studio spaces

Offer durability, comfort,

And a barely detectable
footprint.

This is the engineered,
modern version

Of the ancient
nomadic structure.

Compression and tension together
form freestanding yurts

That today feature
all the modern conveniences,

Including kitchens,
dining areas, and lofts.

The vinyl polymer roof
is gradually shaped into a cone.

A worker folds the polymer,

Laying two edges beside each
other on top of a formica board.

Using a hot-air welder,
he melts the two edges together.

A vinyl laminate valance
is heat-welded

To the bottom perimeter
of the roof,

Creating
a watertight connection.

Together, the workers pull
the entire bottom perimeter

Of the roof
through the heat welder.

In the woodworking area,

A worker drills a hole
in a roof rafter.

With a router, he cuts a notch

That will eventually fit
over a support cable.

Workers spray an oil finish
onto the tooled rafters

For aesthetics
and added weatherproofing.

To keep the rafter
from slipping off its cable,

A worker screws a keeper bolt
into a brass thread in the hole.

He assembles
the compression ring,

Which sits
at the top of the yurt.

He screws in rafter brackets
made of galvanized steel.

A worker uses silicone glue
to attach a rubber gasket

To the bottom edge
of the roof's acrylic dome.

The workers rest it
on the compression ring,

Where it'll be held in place

By cables
and stainless-steel springs.

They begin preparing
the yurt's lattice wall.

The vertical-grain pieces
of douglas fir

Are dipped in water-based
nontoxic penetrating oil.

The pieces for the lattice wall

Are placed in
a multiple-head boring machine.

In one shot, it precision drills


Through several pieces of wood.

A worker begins assembling
the lattice wall.

As he lines up
the pieces of wood,

He flexes them
to test their strength.

The alloy rivets he places
in the holes will act as hinges.

He uses a pneumatic riveting
machine to assemble the wall.

Its load-bearing capability,
once fully assembled,

Is extremely high.

Larger yurts will have walls
with as many as 200 pieces,

While smaller yurts
will have closer to 100.

Once riveting is complete,

The worker makes sure
the wall spreads properly.

On-site,
workers spread the lattice wall.

They bolt both ends
of the lattice to the doorjambs.

A worker places
the galvanized aircraft cable

In the upper notch
of the lattice wall.

Workers attach roof rafters
to the compression ring.

The ring end of the rafter
is attached to the brackets

With a through bolt,

While the wall end of the rafter
attaches to the cable.

The rafters are made
of machined stress-rated wood,

Which can withstand
the weight of snow.

They level the compression ring.

They drape
a polyester insulation lining

Over the rafters

And fasten it securely in place.

They cover the insulation lining

With a highly-efficient
reflective insulation.

Using fiberglass-reinforced
aluminum tape,

They seal the seam.

The foil insulation rests

Between the lining underneath
and the exterior roof.

The workers now roll
the vinyl laminate exterior wall

Around the sides of the yurt.

The exterior wall
is securely laced into grommets

Along the bottom edge
of the roof valance.

A worker standing
in the compression ring

Hoists the acrylic dome
up to the top of the roof

And positions it
on the compression-ring frame.

Yurt windows are sewn in
with mosquito netting

And have a clear vinyl covering.

All in all, yurt living means
never pulling up stakes.

Narrator: marine plywood is used

In the construction
of docks and boats.

You can't use standard plywood
in such wet environments.

Marine plywood isn't affected
by moisture

Because it's made from sheets
of a tropical hardwood

That's naturally water-resistant

And bonded
with water-resistant glue.

Marine plywood
is typically used in boats

For flooring, bulkheads,
and furniture.

The surface is typically a
decorative type of wood veneer,

Such as oak, maple,
teak, or mahogany.

The core, however, is made
of bonded layers of okoume,

A water-resistant species

That grows in the hot and humid
equatorial forest of gabon

In africa.

When the okoume logs
arrive at the factory,

An automated chainsaw cuts
half the shipment into pieces,

Measuring the length
of a finished panel of plywood,

And the other half into pieces

Measuring the width
of a finished panel.

This produces logs with the
grain running in one direction,

As well as logs

With the grain running
in the opposite direction.

This is critical because
when they construct the plywood,

They'll crisscross grain
directions to add strength.

Next the logs go through
a series of rotary blades

That progressively
shave off the bark.

The now-barkless logs enter
the rotary peeling machine.

It works like
a giant pencil sharpener,

Shaving off a continuous
thin sheet called a ply,

Hence the term plywood.

The ply is between 1/100
and 1/10 of an inch thick,

Depending on its position
in the finished panel.

Blades on both sides
trim the ply,

Producing neat, straight edges.

Then the machine
rolls up the ply.

The next machine
unwinds the continuous ply

And slices it
into separate plies.

If the log
that produced this roll

Was one of those cut

To the eight-foot length
of a finished plywood panel,

Then this machine
makes a cut every four feet --

The width
of the finished panel...

And vice-versa.

This thickness of plywood
has a five-ply core.

Three of the plies remain dry,

While two
go through this machine,

Which rolls strong,
water-resistant glue

Simultaneously on both sides.

Now assembly begins.

Alternating grain directions,
the first ply is a dry one,

The second a glued one.

The bottom of it
sticks to the ply underneath --

The top to the dry third ply
that goes over it.

The next ply -- the fourth --
is a glued one.

The bottom sticks to
the ply underneath,

And the top to the fifth
and final ply a dry one above.

Workers use
a powerful pneumatic staple g*n

To attach this assembled core
along the front edge

So that it doesn't come apart
as it enters the press.

The press holds


The current thickness of a core

Is the sum of the piles
plus glue.

The press will reduce that
by 10%.

It applies about 170 pounds
per square inch of pressure,

While at the same time

Heating the core
to 250 degrees fahrenheit

To literally cook the adhesive.

The core exits the press
after seven minutes,

The plies now perfectly flat
and solidly bonded.

The wood veneer for the core's
decorative facing is very thin,

Barely more than


To create a pattern
resembling a hardwood floor,

They join two strips at a time
with a wavy thread of glue.

Next they join the
two mated strips to two others,

And so on,

Until the assembled veneer

Are the length and width
of the plywood core.

The core, meanwhile,
goes through the glue machine,

Which coats both top and bottom
with adhesive.

The veneer sheet is also glued,
but on one side only.

Workers lay the veneer
glued-side up

Then carefully place the core
onto it.

A second veneer,
glued-side down, goes on top.

The okoume core
is now sandwiched

Between
two decorative wood veneers.

The press applies
the same heat and pressure

As it did to the core assembly,

But for just one minute.

The result --
a finished sheet of,

In this case,
cherry veneered marine plywood.

Marine plywood comes not just
in a variety of veneer choices,

But also
in a range of thicknesses.

Typically comprised
of three to 13 plies --

Always an odd number

In order to have equal weight on
either side of the central ply

For balance.

Narrator:
there are many types of paints
at an artist's disposal,

Each producing
a very different effect.

Oil paint is opaque and rich.

Encaustic paint,
being wax-based,

Has a unique texture
that the artist can shape,

Then reheat, and reshape
in countless creative ways.

Oil paint comes in liquid form
and stick form.

With either, the artist can
combine it with other products

To modify the consistency.

Being oil-based, the paint
takes a couple of days to dry,

So there's lots of times
to work with it.

However, once the coat is dry,
it can't be reworked.

Encaustic paint, by contrast,
is wax-based,

So the artist must melt it
while applying it.

Because wax cools and hardens
so quickly,

Encaustic paint
has a short working time.

However, the artist can
reheat it and work it some more.

The main ingredient
in encaustic paint

Is white beeswax.

To that, they add carnauba wax,

Which comes from the leaves
of the carnauba palm tree.

Carnauba wax is quite fragile,

Which is why they strengthen it
with beeswax.

They melt them
in a microwave oven

On convection mode.

Next they add dammar resin,

Which comes from trees
native to southeast asia.

They grind the chunks of resin
into of powder

In a coffee grinder,

Then mix it into
the molten waxes.

The resin will act
as a solidifying agent,

As well as
make the paint glossy.

Once the ingredients
are evenly blended,

They pour the mix
through cheesecloth

To filter out
minute plant particles,

Which the resin contained.

They weigh out a quantity
of synthetic pigment

And add it
to the wax-resin mixture.

The ratio of pigment to mixture
varies by color.

Some have more wax
and less pigment

And others vice-versa.

This manufacturer
won't reveal any specifics

About ingredient proportions.

Its paint recipes
are top-secret.

After mixing
for about 15 minutes,

The paint is ready.

They carefully pour it
into a mold.

This type of mold
produces sticks.

The paint hardens
in just a few minutes.

They scrape off the excess
and melt it back to liquid

To cast the next batch
of sticks.

Then they unscrew the mold
and pry it apart.

Once the mold is safely opened,

They gently extract
the finished encaustic sticks.

They wear gloves

Because the sticks
are still a bit hot

And can stain their hands.

For those same reasons,

They wrap the sticks,
once labeled, in plastic.

This manufacturer also produces
handmade encaustic paint

In another format --
rectangular blocks.

The process is identical.

The mold is made
of flexible rubber.

The paint hardens sooner
than in a metal mold

Because rubber dissipates heat
far faster than metal does.

Workers
don't need to wear gloves

When extracting the blocks

Because the paint
is already cool

And therefore
won't stain their hands.

To make oil-paint sticks,

They first make a large batch
of oil paint out of walnut oil,

Pigment, a drying agent,
and a bit of wax.

Then they weigh out
a specific quantity

And add more walnut oil.

Next they add combined
carnauba wax and beeswax,

Which are necessary
to form the stick shape,

However less wax
than for encaustic sticks.

They blend all these ingredients
for about 15 minutes,

Then pour the paint into
a metal mold to cast sticks.

Every batch of oil sticks
undergoes drying tests

To ensure the paint dries
within two days

After being applied to paper.

Encaustic is the more durable
of these two types of paints

Because it contains
a larger percentage of beeswax,

Which is resistant to moisture.

And encaustic painting,
therefore,

Doesn't have to be varnished
or put behind glass.

If you have any comments
about the show,

Or if you'd like to suggest
topics for future shows,

Drop us a line at...