04x10 - Plastic Cups & Cutlery/Special Effects Makeup/Gold/Harps

[bunniefuu]

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

Plastic cups and cutlery...

...special-effects makeup...

...gold...

...and harps.

The industry calls it
single-usage plasticware,

But that's just a fancy way to
say throwaway plastic dishes.

Plastic plates, bowls,
drinkware, and cutlery

Come in many styles and colors.

So for your next party,
you can go disposable

For everything from champagne
flutes to parfait glasses.

Factories make cutlery by
injecting plastic into molds.

They make cups, plates,
and bowls

Using a different process
called thermoforming.

Before the forming phase
can begin,

An automated system
loads polystyrene pellets

Into a machine
called an extruder,

Adding pigments
for colored plastic.

The extruder heats the pellets
until they melt.

Then it forces the molten
plastic through a die

To shape a hard-plastic sheet
about 8/100ths of an inch thick.

They use molds to form
this continuous sheet

Into plastic cups.

First, the sheet passes through
an oven that's 10 feet long.

It heats the hard plastic
until it becomes malleable.

Then it enters
the thermoforming machine,

Which simultaneously pushes
and vacuums the sheets

Into the mold cavities...

Forming row after row of cups.

The entire process takes
just three seconds.

The cups then travel
to the trimmer,

Which uses a die
to cut them off the sheet.

The machine grinds up
the leftover plastic

And remelts it into new sheets,

So there's no loss of material
whatsoever.

The trimmer feeds the cups

Directly to a machine
that stacks them...

Then feeds them to a conveyor
belt in one long line.

The conveyor transports them to
a machine called the lip roller.

It reheats the cups just enough
to make the plastic flexible.

Then, as we see here
in slow-motion,

It folds the rim over,
forming a rounded lip.

They also make cutlery from
melted polystyrene pellets,

As well as from polypropylene --

A lighter, more flexible, and
less expensive type of plastic.

The cutlery molds
consist of two halves.

You can see the difference
in this fork mold.

In one half, the utensil
cavities are right-side up --

The fork prongs indented.

In the other half, the cavities
are upside down --

The fork prongs raised.

A plastic-injection machine
melts the pellets

And injects the molten plastic
into the mold.

A built-in cooling system
solidifies the form

In about 10 seconds.

The extracted cutlery drops
to a conveyor belt

That leads directly to the
automated-packaging equipment.

For certain customers
such as fast-food restaurants,

The factory packages utensils
individually.

The automated wrapping machine
cuts polyethylene film to size,

Heat-sealing the ends.

This factory also uses
polypropylene pellets

To make straws.

The black beads are pigments
to color the plastic.

An extruder --
a different one this time --

Melts the pellets,
then forces the molten plastic

Through a circle-shaped die.

As the long, continuous straw
exits the extruder,

It cools and hardens
in a tank of chilled water.

As it leaves the tank,

A knife chops it
into individual straws.

They fall onto a conveyor belt

Which transports them
to the packaging line.

Just like the forks,

These straws will also be
individually wrapped --

But in paper, not plastic film.

The wrapper machine feeds them
one-by-one into a paper sleeve.

Gears mesh the edges together,
creating a crimped seal.

The dies on this machine

Turn ordinary straws
into flexible ones

By forming a corrugated section

That lets you bend the top
of the straw toward your mouth.

The machine compresses
the corrugation

To preserve the shape.

Back to the plastic cups now.

This factory can print
customized designs

In up to six colors
applied simultaneously.

Ultraviolet lamps built
right into the printing press

Dry the ink instantly.

Polystyrene
is naturally transparent.

Combining two grades
of polystyrene

Creates plasticware
that's semiopaque

And also highly flexible.

Narrator:
on "how it's made,"

We usually stick
to the show's title

And show you how products
are manufactured.

But this next segment is about
special-effects makeup --

The kind that makeup artists use
on theater and movie actors.

So in this case,
we'll show you how it's made,

But we'll also show you
how it's applied.

Watch as this
special-effects-makeup artist

Works his magic

To transform this 28-year-old
woman into a senior citizen.

After gelling her hair flat,
he glued on a bald cap

Using a theatrical adhesive
called spirit gum.

He protects her eyebrows
and eyelashes

With petroleum jelly,

Then covers her face
in alginate,

A material generally used
to take dental impressions.

Then he applies
wet plaster bandages.

After 25 minutes, the materials
harden into a mask.

Now he lines it with plaster.

In a half-hour,
the plaster hardens

Into a perfect replica
of the woman's face.

Like putting non-stick spray
on a baking pan,

He coats the model
in a release agent.

Then, using professional-grade
plasticine,

He begins to sculpt
an elderly face.

He smoothes out the wrinkles
with strong rubbing alcohol

So they'll look realistic.

He uses a bumpy rubber pad

To give the skin
an aged orange-peel texture.

The finished sculpture
sits in water for 2 to 3 hours.

This activates
the release agent,

Detaching the plasticine
from the plaster underneath.

The artist carefully cuts
the sculpture into sections.

The number of pieces varies

With the size and complexity
of the mask.

Now he can start producing
the mold he'll use

To cast the elderly woman's
face mask.

First, he takes a thin plaster
impression of each piece.

Then he coats the impression
in plaster

To make the positive half
of the mold.

Once it hardens, he applies
the plasticine piece

To space the depth
of the mold cavity.

Then he coats that in plaster

To create the negative half
of the mold.

When it hardens,
he applies release agent

To both mold cavities,
pours in hot gelatin,

Then closes the mold.

In a half-hour,
the gelatin hardens

Into a flexible replica
of that particular piece

Of the plasticine sculpture.

He implants synthetic hairs
to create eyebrows.

Now, using surgical glue,

He begins to apply the pieces,
called prosthetics.

He starts with the largest
facepiece first.

It includes the nose, cheeks,
neck, and upper lip.

He cuts a hole in the chin area

So that he can apply
the chinpiece.

Now the lower lip.

He cuts off the excess,

Then glues the edges
of the chinpiece

To the large facepiece.

Now for the forehead --

Again, he applies glue
along the edges

To connect it to the rest.

To age the eyes,
he uses contact lenses.

They create a ring
around the iris --

A typical feature
of elderly eyes.

Using tweezers,
he applies eye bags,

Again gluing the edges
to the rest of the mask.

And finally,
some wrinkly eyelids.

With the mask fully assembled,
it's makeup time.

Using a toothbrush,

The artist sprays it unevenly
over the mask,

Then smudges it
with his fingers.

This technique creates
a realistic look

Because the human face --
aged skin especially --

Has color variations.

Using a very thin brush,
he accentuates some wrinkles

By creating depth
with a darker color.

Now some freckles
and age spots...

...and a gray wig.

And finally,
just a bit of lip color

Because lips dull with age.

All this takes
an experienced makeup artist

About a month of work.

And such expertise
doesn't come cheap.

A major transformation like this
for stage or screen

Can cost up to $10,000.

Narrator: gold is the softest
and most malleable metal.

It can be pressed
extremely thin,

Crafted into various shapes,

Even drawn out to form
a fine wire,

And all without breaking.

Gold isn't affected by water
or oxygen, as many metals are,

So it doesn't rust or tarnish.

Most gold comes
from lode deposits,

Also called vein deposits --

Concentrations of gold and other
metals in the cracks of rocks.

Lode deposits require
hard-rock mining,

Using drilling and blasting

To remove gold-bearing rock
called ore.

Miners descend more than


There they drill holes
for expl*sives

Using what's called
a long hole air drill.

They drill
in a specific pattern

Set out in a plan prepared
by the mine's engineers.

The engineers know exactly where
those veins of gold are

Thanks to the mining company's
geologists,

Who've studied ore samples.

The company collects
these samples

By drilling deep into the rock
at 50-foot intervals.

These diamond-drill cores,
as they're called,

Are up to 330 feet long and
measure 1.5 inches in diameter.

Gold in its natural state
isn't pure.

It's usually intertwined
with silver or other metals.

So the mined ore has to be
processed afterward

To isolate and extract the gold.

A ton of ore yields only about


After blasting the rock apart
with expl*sives,

Miners use what's called
a muck machine

To transfer the ore to cars
headed to the main shaft

And then aboveground
to the mill.

There, a crusher reduces
the large chunks

Into smaller rocks about
the size of road gravel.

A mill then pulverizes them
to the texture of beach sand.

The factory adds
a water and cyanide solution,

Then another mill grinds it
further into a mud-like pulp.

The pulp flows into
large settling tanks.

The wet solids are heavier
and sink to the bottom.

The water at the top
drains to another area.

They transfer the wet solids
to an agitation tank

And blow in air.

The oxygen sets off
a chemical reaction

Between the cyanide
and the gold trapped in the ore,

Triggering the gold to dissolve

And leach
into the surrounding water.

Drum filters then separate
the water from the solids.

This water now joins the water
that was separated earlier.

They pour in zinc powder to
solidify the dissolved gold

And form pieces containing
both zinc and gold.

To smelt it into bars,

They first have to mix
several chemicals --

Manganese dioxide...

Fluoride...

Silica flour...

...borax...

And sodium nitrate.

This chemical mix, called flux,

Will separate the gold
from the impurities.

They pour it into the smelter,

Whose temperature is a fiery


They rotate the smelter

So that the contents
heat evenly over 2 1/2 hours.

The heavier gold eventually
sinks to the bottom,

While the impurities,
called slag,

Float to the surface.

They pour out the slag,

Taking a sample to make sure
it contains no gold.

If it does, it goes back in
until it's gold-free.

By now, the gold
has cooled slightly,

So they reheat it
to 2,910 degrees fahrenheit,

Then cast it
into bar-shaped molds.

The gold takes about
four minutes to solidify.

It's put in a basin
of cold water,

Where it will cool completely
after an hour.

They extract the gold bars
from the molds

And clean off any slag residue.

Gold bars are
also called ingots.

At this stage,
the gold is 80% pure.

The united states mint
will refine it to 99.9% --

The international gold standard.

Narrator:
harps come in many sizes.

The type that
classical musicians play

Is known as the orchestral,
or concert, harp.

It produces more tones than
any other stringed instrument.

The player plucks the harp

With the thumb and first three
fingers of each hand,

While at the same time
operating foot pedals.

The harp is one of the oldest
string instruments,

Originating in the middle east
as early as 3000 b.c.

Harps begin appearing
in europe in the 700s.

They initially had
a curved pillar.

By about 1500, this evolved
into a sturdier straight pillar

That could support more tension.

As music became
more sophisticated,

They added a second row
of strings

As well as pitch-raising
mechanisms,

Enabling the orchestral harp
to produce more notes.

This harp is a cross

Between a classical harp
and a celtic harp.

There's the pillar in the front,
the sound box in the back,

And the neck
running across the top.

The sides of the sound box
are called the ribs.

They're made from pieces
of solid poplar,



The instrument maker traces a
rib-shaped template on the wood

And then cuts out the shape
using a band saw.

He clamps them
onto his worktable

And, with a plane,
makes them symmetrical.

Now he draws three lines
across each rib

To mark where he'll cut slots.

You'll see what those slots
are for later on.

Next he glues on a notched strip
of wood called a lining

To the curved side of the rib.

The lining enlarges
the glueable surface,

Making it easier
to assemble the side

To the back of the sound box.

The notches enable the lining
to bend to the curved shape.

Now he glues on the lining

That will connect
the straight side of the rib

To the front of the sound box.

He shaves off some wood
with a small plane,

Then rounds off a corner.

He planes the back lining
as well,

Removing a corner to flatten it.

Trimming the linings reduces the
final weight of the instrument.

Now he cuts off the ends
of the linings on both sides

To be able to slide into place
the adjoining parts,

The bottom plate,
and the top plate.

They're made of russian plywood,
which is a piece of plywood

Sandwiched between sheets
of birchwood



He glues the top plate
into place, then clamps it.

He does the same
with the bottom plate.

He closes the back
of the sound box

With what's called
the back plate.

It's also cut
from russian plywood.

He glues it onto the lining,

Applying pressure with
tight rubber strapping.

When the glue dries
after about an hour

And the strapping comes off,

He marks the location
of the sound holes,

The holes from which sound
exits the instrument.

He constructs the top plate
on the front of the sound box

From solid spruce.

He lays the pieces down
from widest to narrowest,

Then glues on a reinforcement
strip made of solid maple.

The strings pass
through the strip

And another on the inside.

They prevent the tension
from rupturing the top plate.

He attaches a solid poplar frame

To strengthen where
the top plate and the ribs join.

After sanding
with fine sandpaper,

He coats the sound box
in varnish.

Remember those slots
in the ribs?

They now hold bracings
to prevent the ribs from bowing

Under the tension
of the strings.

Using a band saw, the instrument
maker cuts the neck

From a board of russian plywood
about an inch thick.

He makes a slot for gluing
the pillar,

Also made of russian plywood.

Once the varnish on the neck
and pillar are dry,

He hammers in pins
for the strings.

This type of harp
has 34 strings.

Brass bridge pins space them
evenly apart.

Steel zither pins adjust
the tension for tuning.

He uses a wooden guide to hammer
the pins to a uniform depth.

The three finished pieces fit
together with dowels and slots.

He secures the joints with glue

And a long screw
through the pillar.

Strength is critical.

This harp has to withstand


Reaching through
the sound holes,

He threads the strings through
the reinforcement strips

To the pins outside.

These are nylon strings.

Harps can
also have steel strings.

He winds them around the zither
pins with a special key.

The last step
is to tune the harp

With the help
of an electronic tuner.

If you have any comments
about the show

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

Drop us a line at...