17x06 - Rolled Wafers/Wood Pellets/Class & Championship Rings

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: at some point
many centuries ago,

The thin, communion-style wafer
took a delicious twist

With the creation
of the rolled wafer cookie.

The exact origin of this
tubular treat isn't known,

But it has been traced back

To syrian christian pastry
makers during the middle ages.

Long and elegant, the rolled
wafer is one classy cookie.

It's crispy on the outside
and creamy at the core

For a sweet fusion
of flavor and texture.

It could be served as a garnish
for the main dessert

Or on its own.

It is, of course,
a matter of taste.

Ingredients for the rolled wafer

Include flour, sugar,
cocoa powder, whey powder,

Milk powder, and dark chocolate.

There are 20 ingredients
in total.

They load each one
into a separate bin.

The bins all funnel into one of
two big mixers one floor below.

One mixer
blends the wafer batter,

And the other
prepares the cream filling.

A central computer

Controls the flow
from the bins to the mixers.

It measures and releases
the ingredients

To follow the recipe exactly.

The computer also assigns
a lot number to each batch,

So if there's a problem
with the product,

They'll be able to track
the source and fix it.

Down below, in the wafer mixer,

The batter
is looking pretty smooth.

They're aiming for a consistency

That's similar
to pancake batter.

A worker scoops up some
to check it.

Too runny or too thick,

And the wafer won't have
the right crunch.

The batch is just right.

The wafer batter now flows
onto four metal plates

That spread it
onto an immense rotating wheel,

Creating four
very thin ribbons of batter.

Gas flames heat the wheel
to 300 degrees fahrenheit

To toast the batter strips.

At this high temperature,

The toasted pastry
has yet to crisp up.

It's soft and flexible,
which means it's ready to roll.

Coming off the wheel,

The wafer pastry winds
around a revolving mandrill

And quickly cools, generating
a continuous wafer roll.

The chocolate hazelnut
cream filling

Is looking delicious by now,

And machinery
pumps it through a hole

In the wafer-forming mandrill.

As the wafer takes shape,

The mandrill
pumps the cream into it.

This mechanized system
is faster than hand-rolling,

And the wafers it generates
are more uniform.

The long, rolled wafer
now spins off the mandrill

And heads into a tunnel.

Inside, a little ax swings down

To chop it
into wafer-sized pieces.

The rolled wafer exits
onto a slide

And makes a gentle landing
onto a conveyor.

The cream inside the cookie
is still fluid,

And the pastry itself
is still somewhat pliable.

The next stage of production
will solidify everything.

It's a trip
through a cooling tunnel.

On this stage of the journey,

The various components of
the rolled wafer

Crystallize to their final form,

And they emerge crispy enough
to be handled by the employees.

They identify any damaged wafers
and discard them

As they arrange the cookies
for packaging.

This means compartmentalizing
them in groups

On a slotted conveyor.

After that, the little stacks
of rolled wafers

Travel through
a curtain of plastic.

Machinery
cuts and heat-seals the wrapping

In this completely automated
packaging system.

The plastic
will keep the wafers fresh,

But it won't protect them
from breakage.

That's the job of the metal can.

After an ink-jet-like device

Prints the freshness code
on the bottom,

The cans ride a magnetized wheel

Which flips them
to an upright position.

A worker then fills each can
with the plastic-encased wafers

And puts a lid on the top.

Modern manufacturing

Has revolutionized the making
of these rolled wafers.

Once individually
rolled and baked by hand,

Machinery now does
most of the work,

Producing more than 100,000
rolled wafers per hour.

But, of course, the taste
is still all about tradition.

Narrator: unlike a conventional
wood stove that burns firewood,

A pellet stove
uses wood pellets as fuel.

Made from lumber byproducts
such as sawdust and wood chips,

Which would otherwise
end up as waste,

Pellets burn more efficiently
and more cleanly than wood

And produce
very little air pollution.

A pellet stove has
an on-board storage container

Called a hopper

That holds,
depending on the model,

Up to 80 pounds of wood pellets.

Several computer chips monitor
the stove's heating performance,

Dictating
the rate at which the hopper

Automatically feeds pellets
into the stove's firepot.

The heat output
is manually adjustable

Or can be controlled
by a thermostat.

Wood pellets burn
far more cleanly than logs,

And the fire is smoke-free.

Wood pellets are made from
a variety of raw materials --

Sawdust, wood chips,
wood shavings, small logs,

Even scraps of wood

Left over from furniture
and other manufacturing.

These different types
of lumber byproducts

First have to be reduced to
the same size and consistency.

Therefore, the first stop
is a huge grinding machine.

Inside, mammoth steel hammers

Pulverize the raw material
to uniform pieces.

The raw material contains
about 45% moisture,

So it goes into a dryer

To reduce the moisture level
to between 11% and 12%.

So what was rough, raw material

Has now been ground
to a finer state and dried.

But it's still not fine enough,

So it goes into a mill,
which processes it further

Until it's roughly
the size of rice grains.

A feed pipe transfers
what is now wood fiber

To a row of presses.

These are the machines
which make the pellets.

The moisture content
of the fiber is critical.

If it's too wet, the pellet
presses risk clogging up.

That's why
each pellet press has a readout

Displaying
the fiber moisture level.

As an added measure,
the factory draws fiber samples

And sends them
to the quality-control lab

For analysis.

It's essential
for the stability of the pellets

That the moisture
be at the ideal level.

Excess moisture
would eventually evaporate,

Breaking the pellets apart.

So to analyze
the moisture content,

The lab technicians
weigh a sample,

Heat it to a high temperature
to evaporate the moisture...

...then re-weigh.

The analyzer is programmed
to translate the weight loss

Into a reading
of moisture content.

The pellet press is a large drum
with perforated rollers inside.

The holes are pellet-width --


As the drum rotates,
the rollers apply pressure.

This compresses the fiber
by 400%

And extrudes it outward
through the holes.

A knife slices the extruding
fiber at programmed intervals,

Cutting it into lengths
of about 1 2/10 inches.

The compression generates heat,
which draws out the tree sap

Still contained
in the wood fiber.

This sap, called lignin,
acts as an adhesive,

Locking it in the pellet shape.

The journey from raw material
to pellet is now complete.

The pellets, however,
are still quite warm and sticky,

So they clump together.

The solution --
about 15 minutes in a cooler.

As the room-temperature air
blows through the pellets,

Cooling and drying
the tacky lignin,

The pellets separate
from each other.

Some of the processed
raw material

Ends up in too fine a state
to become pellets.

So as the pellets
exit the cooler,

A vibrating screen filters out
this sawdust-like material,

Which incidentally
doesn't go to waste.

The factory uses it
to fuel the dryer.

The pellets, meanwhile,
proceed to packaging.

It's a continuous system.

The machine feeds
printed, plastic film

Around a cylindrical tube,
forming the shape of the bag.

Then it drops in


And seals the top of the bag,

Simultaneously forming
the bottom of the next one.

Wood-pellet stoves
are fast becoming

A popular means of home heating,

And because pellets
cost significantly less

Than most other types of fuel,

Wood-pellet systems
are an emerging option

For commercial and industrial
heating.

Narrator: a ring celebrating
a special achievement

Makes a cherished,
lifelong keepsake,

Whether it's a class ring

To commemorate
graduation from high school

Or a championship ring

For the players
on a winning sports team.

As the years go by,
this special piece of jewelry

Keeps the memories
close at hand.

Championship rings
are entirely custom-made.

They typically feature
the team name and logo,

Along with the year
of the big win.

They can also have
personalized touches,

Such as the player's name
or jersey number.

Class rings, on the other hand,

Come in several ready-made
designs presented in a catalog.

Graduates order
their favorite style,

Then personalize their ring
by choosing options,

Such as symbols, gemstones,
and engraved lettering.

For each style,

A jewelry designer first
sketches the ring's base --

The overall shape of the ring
minus the decorative elements.

Then an industrial designer
transforms the sketch

Into a three-dimensional
computer drawing.

The ring's decorative components
go through the same process --

The jewelry designer's
color drawing

Adapted to 3-d software

That guides a computer-operated
milling machine.

The machine transforms
two blocks of aluminum

Into a two-part mold

For each of the flat, detailed
components of the ring,

Meaning all the parts
except for the base.

A steady flow of lubricant

Washes away the shards of metal
the machine cuts away.

Bit by bit, the mold assumes

Very intricate detail
of the ring design.

Once it's finished, they
coat the cavity with a powder

That prevents the wax they're
about to inject from sticking.

Then they load the mold
into an injection device.

It shoots in hot,
liquid wax at high pressure,

Filling all the minute
nooks and crannies

Of the intricately
detailed cavity.

Seconds later,
they extract a wax model

Of, in this case, the elaborate
top of a championship ring.

To make a wax model
of the ring's base,

They use a flexible rubber mold

Because it would be
too difficult

To extract the three-dimensional
shape from a metal mold.

They inject the wax
at low pressure,

As a rubber mold can't withstand
high-pressure injection,

Nor is it necessary when the
base has no intricate details.

The next step is to assemble

The wax models
of two of the ring's components,

Connecting the parts
with joining wax

Applied using
a fine-tipped soldering iron.

It's at this stage

That they also size the ring
for the customer,

Either cutting out a section
of the shank to downsize

Or adding to the shank
to enlarge.

Next, they
begin building a wax structure

On which to mount
the wax models

For several rings they'll
be casting simultaneously.

They solder a small stem
to each model...

...then connect each stem
to a large wax rod.

When they're done,

They have a treelike structure
holding all the wax models.

They solder this structure
to a rubber base,

Then slip a metal flask over it.

Next, they mix up some plaster,

Blending it for a good half-hour
under a vacuum

To remove all the air bubbles.

Then they inject the plaster
into the flask,

Engulfing the wax models
and supporting structure inside.

Over the next 12 hours,

The plaster hardens
into a shell around the wax.

Next, 12 hours in a hot oven.

This burns out
the wax components,

Leaving behind
a cavity in the shell

Shaped precisely like them.

Now it's just a matter

Of melting down the metal
for the final casting.

Narrator: the technique of using
a wax model to create a mold

Is known
as the lost wax process.

This company
uses the plaster shell as a mold

To cast rings
in three types of metal --

Gold, sterling silver,
and stainless steel.

Regardless of the metal, the
ring-making process is the same.

In just minutes, the induction
furnace has heated the metal --

In this case gold --
to the required molten state.

They carefully pour it
into the plaster shell.

Gold flows down channels
and into cavities

Left when the wax burnt out.

Once the gold
cools and solidifies,

They submerge the shell
in cool water.

This instantly dissolves
the hot plaster,

Releasing the cast piece.

Everything
that was once modeled in wax

Is now replicated in gold.

They cut the ring components
off the structure,

Then re-melt the structure
to reuse the gold.

There's still
a remnant of the structure

On each ring component,
so they grind it off.

Next, using a grinding tool

So small
that it fits through the ring,

They smooth the inside surface.

Then they stamp in
the company name,

Along with the
internationally recognized code

Identifying the metal,
such as 10k for 10-karat gold.

To smooth
the ring's outer surface,

They use a grinding wheel

Which has splits
in its abrasive disks.

The split produces
a see-through view,

As the disks spin at high speed.

With the entire surface
now smooth,

The ring is ready for polishing.

They apply
some polishing compound,

Then, using another split wheel,
shine it up.

Next, the top of the ring goes
to the stone-setting department,

Where, using a fine rotary tool,

A specialist
contours each setting

To fit the gemstone's
pointed base.

Then he sets each gemstone...

...forcing down
the four surrounding prongs

Onto the edge of the stone.

Next, he sets tiny diamonds.

He presses each one into place,

Then pushes
the surrounding metal inward

To hold the stone down.

The top of the ring complete,
they now solder it to the base.

Using an airbrush,

They apply a fine mist of black
paint, then wipe it off.

This leaves behind
a black background

Highlighting the ring's details.

Now they apply
some polishing compound

To a cloth buffing wheel

And polish the ring
to a high-gloss shine.

They clean the ring thoroughly
in repeated ultrasonic baths.

Ultrasound waves
traveling through the water

Dislodge all traces of polishing
compound and other residues.

A few blasts
of pressurized steam,

And the ring is completely dry.

Certain rings
also have enamel decoration.

Enamel is liquid glass.

It goes on like paint,

Then has to be baked in an oven
for 30 minutes.

Finally, a computer-guided
engraving machine

Inscribes any name
or personal message

Customers request be written
on or inside their rings.

The tradition of the class ring
dates back to the 1800s.

Championship rings,
a wearable trophy of sorts,

Are a more recent custom.

Both make a proud and triumphant
fashion statement.