12x13 - Motorcycle Engines/Glass Enamel Sculptures/Hand-Made Paper/Vaulting Poles

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
the v-twin motorcycle engine

Actually dates back
more than a century.

Talk about staying power.

Central to the design
are two cylinders

That form a "v"
around the crankshaft.

This configuration
is more compact

Than a straight-line engine,
and its appeal is timeless.

With its throttle cranked,

The v-twin can take you
on an exciting ride

And leave sedans in its dust.

To make one,
a robot loads a cylinder

Into a machine
equipped with cutting tools.

The tools mill the cylinder's
metal slats to highlight them.

The slats
are called cooling fins.

They allow the engine's heat
to dissipate.

This cutting tool bores
into the center of the cylinder,

Carving it to precise dimensions

To allow engine components
a perfect fit.

Next, an operator
assembles the crankshaft.

He aligns connecting rods
and slides them over bearings.

He then assembles the rods
and bearings to the crankshaft.

A machine
press-fits everything together.

Next, a lift scoops up
the crankshaft assembly

And transfers it to
the lower half of the crankcase.

At the next station,

An automated dispenser
precisely applies sealant

To the inner edge
of the crankcase.

They then arrange
the upper half of the crankcase

On the lower assembly

And bolt the two together.

It's now time to link
the crankcase and shaft assembly

To the transmission.

This chrome-plated cover
is the finishing touch.

Next, they fit the camshaft
into the crankcase.

Its job
is to maintain valve timing.

They position the pistons

On the connecting rods
now installed in the crankcase.

Remember those highlighted
cylinders made earlier?

Workers now slide them
over the pistons.

These are
the cylinder-head castings.

Technicians paint them

And then machine them
to fit on the cylinders.

A robot bolts them together with
just the right amount of torque.

The operator then installs
tubing that will house pushrods.

He snaps them
into the cylinder heads.

Then he clips on metal covers
to secure them.

He now inserts the pushrods
in the tubing.

Up next is the electronic
fuel-injection system,

Which controls
the flow of fuel to the engine.

They install it
between the two cylinders.

A special bracket holds
the injection system in place.

He bolts the rocker boxes
to the cylinder heads,

Then tops off the assembly with
more gleaming chrome covers.

The operator now screws the
oil filter onto the engine case

And secures it
with a special wrench.

This is the electrical
charging system.

It goes on the crankshaft.

Now it's time to pump oil
into this v-twin engine

And put it through its paces.

Computerized testing equipment
moves in

And mates to the engine.

The engine rotates,

And they shift the transmission
through all the gears.

This allows
the testing equipment

To analyze every aspect
of its performance.

Next, they insert spark plugs
into the cylinder heads.

And these


Are now revved and ready
for their wheels.

Narrator:
enameling is the process

Of fusing colored glass to metal
with intense heat.

This decorative art developed
more than 3,000 years ago.

The earliest enameled objects
archeologists have found

Are pieces of jewelry
made in ancient greece.

Today, artisans most often
produce glass enamel on copper.

Artisans handcraft
these magnificent sculptures

By fusing vibrant colors
of finely ground glass

To solid copper.

First, the artist
draws the design,

Then chooses the glass colors

From a palette
of hundreds of shades.

She takes one element at a time

And makes multiple copies of it
on a sheet of paper.

She has a lab
produce a film negative,

Which she lays
in an exposure machine.

On top, she lays a silk screen

Coated with
a light-sensitive chemical.

Then it exposes them
to halogen light for 90 seconds.

The film negative
works like a stencil.

Its dark parts block the light
from hitting the screen

While its clear parts
allow light through.

Where light penetrates,

The light-sensitive chemical
reacts and hardens.

The unhardened chemical
rinses away,

Leaving just the image behind.

In the next department,

They lay the screen
in a silk-screen printer,

Apply chemical-resistant ink,

Then load
a sheet of solid copper

About half a millimeter thick.

The machine automatically prints
the images onto the copper.

They cure the ink in an oven
for 20 minutes,

Then repeat
the entire exposure process

For the back side of the sheet.

Next, they feed the sheet
into a two-step milling machine.

It applies chemicals
that eat away any copper

That isn't coated
with the chemical-resistant ink.

This cuts out the shapes.

Then it strips off the ink,

Which, by this point,
has served its purpose.

Now they have a blank shape,
but it's completely flat.

To give it dimension, they
stamp it with a forming dye.

Now the enameling process
can finally begin.

For each color grouping
of the design,

There's an aluminum stencil.

They lay down the first one

And sprinkle glass powder
in the first base-coat color,

Which looks white now,
but comes out clear.

Then a second stencil

For the second
base-coat color -- white.

The shape then goes into a kiln
for about a minute

To liquefy the glass powder
and fuse it to the copper.

Once the base coat cools,

They create the detail work with
additional stencils and colors.

This is where
the true artistry comes in.

Each shake of powdered glass
is like a painter's brushstroke.

Too much, and the color
will come out too dark.

Too little,
and it'll come out too light.

It takes an experienced enameler
to get it just right.

They craft dimension
by blending colors

And by combining different types
of glass in the design --

Some transparent, some opaque,
some opalescent.

After every few
powder applications,

They return the piece
to the kiln,

Where the intense heat --


Liquefies and fuses the glass
to the copper.

Slowly but surely, they turn
what was a blank copper shape

Into a vibrant work of art.

Meanwhile, an artistic welder

Skillfully creates the
sculpture's metal framework --

In this case, branches on which
copper-enamel birds will perch.

He's using steel,

But frameworks can also be made
of copper, bronze, or brass.

Besides birds, this sculpture

Features copper-enameled leaves
and flowers.

Their stems are bronze because
bronze fuses easily to steel.

With the framework and
background elements in place,

It's just a matter of attaching
the main design elements.

Some industrial-strength
hot glue does the trick.

A modern twist
on an ancient craft,

These glass-enamel sculptures
make a glistening impression.

Narrator: today,
most commercially made paper

Is made from wood pulp

Treated with chemicals
and mechanically processed.

Making paper by hand

Is a craft that involves
techniques and materials

That go back
over 2,000 years in china.

These techniques
have evolved over time,

But the main ingredient
remains the same -- imagination.

Handmade paper is a distinctive
choice for a variety of uses,

From fine stationery
to limited-edition prints.

Natural fibers, like linen
or these cotton remnants,

Are the raw materials
for handmade paper.

Workers place the cotton rag
and put it on a conveyer,

Which leads into a machine that
chops it up into small pieces.

It collects in a bin,
ready for the next step,

Called beating the rag.

Workers pour out
the chopped-up rag

Into a tub called a hollander
that is filling with water.

This machine
beats the material into a pulp.

Its only moving part --

A large roll
weighing several tons,

Equipped with metal blades.

Workers fill the hollander
with up to 800 pounds of rag.

Once all the rag is in,

The giant roll descends
to begin the beating.

Water pours down
to soak the fabric,

As workers
push it toward the roll.

They sometimes take paper
from previous batches,

Known as broke,
and add it to the mix.

They may also add a little dye
to adjust the color,

Depending on the desired effect.

After eight hours of beating,

Workers feel
the pulp's consistency.

They will then take samples
from this batch

To make sure it doesn't contain
any unbeaten rag or knots.

Next, they add colorful
scraps of paper to the pulp

To create a decorative pattern.

To make a sheet of paper,

The vat man plunges
a wooden mold into the pulp.

As he lifts out the mold,

He shakes it
to even out the pulp.

Water pours out,

Leaving only fibers
caught on the mold's surface.

He removes the mold's frame,
known as the deckle,

And lowers
the corner of the mold

To drain away more water.

He places the mold facedown
on a wet felt,

Then carefully lifts it away.

A sheet of paper
now lies on the felt,

Which he then covers
with another wet felt.

When pulp pours
through the mold's metal screen,

It traps the fiber
and lets the water through.

The vat man plunges the mold
once again into the pulp

And couches another sheet
of this distinctive paper.

At this point,
the paper is 99% water.

Workers bring a stack
over to a hydraulic press

To draw the water from the paper
and link the fibers together.

They press the papers with care

So they don't burst
right out of the felts.

They brush any leftover pulp
from the felts,

Leaving them clean and ready
for the next batch of sheets.

Now workers can handle the paper
without it falling apart.

They take the sheets
from the felts

And hang them to dry
on plastic tubes.

Once dry, they collect
the sheets according to type

And stack them
for a final finishing press

Before they go on for shipment
to customers around the world.

The mold's frame
leaves a feathery edge --

A distinctive feature
of handmade paper.

These papers are available
in more than 30 colors

In various finishes,
from smooth to rugged.

There's a paper
for every project,

Whether it's etching...

Watercolor...

Drawing...

Or even folding.

Narrator: pole-vaulting began
as a mode of transportation,

Not a sport.

In europe, men would use poles

To propel themselves
across bridgeless canals.

In the late 1800s, pole-vaulting
caught on as a college sport.

The athletes used bamboo poles

To vault themselves
over a horizontal bar.

Today's poles
are incredibly lightweight,

Yet strong enough
to absorb the vaulter's energy,

Then throw it back
to propel him over the bar.

Some poles
are made of carbon fiber,

Others out of thismaterial --
resin-impregnated fiberglass.

The first step
is to spread out the material

And cut out the pole pattern.

Meanwhile, a slitter machine

Cuts the same material
into strips of a specific width.

Then it winds each strip
into its own roll.

This spiral-wrap machine
automatically unravels the strip

And wraps it around a hollow
steel tube called a mandrel.

This first layer of fiberglass
gives the pole its flexibility.

They wrap a second layer
in the opposite direction,

Employing a crisscross pattern
to increase durability.

The second layer fortifies
the pole's circumference.

For the next layers,

They remove the mandrel
and lay it on the table.

Now it's time
for those fiberglass patterns

They cut earlier.

They heat the edge
of the first one with an iron,

Melting the resin in
the fiberglass until it's tacky.

They stick this edge
to the mandrel,

Then slide the other end
between heated rollers.

The rollers wrap the rest of
the material around the mandrel,

The heat activating the resin
in the process.

The same procedure,
now with the second pattern.

This piece is critical,

Because the way it's cut
controls the way the pole bends.

The mandrel and
its multilayer fiberglass coat

Now go into an oven.

The heat, generated by steam,

Starts at


This liquefies the resin so that
it re-saturates the fiberglass.

Then the temperature gradually
rises to nearly 300 degrees,

Solidifying the resin again,
curing it.

This entire process takes about


And when it finishes,
a pole extractor

Slides the mandrel out of
what's now a fiberglass pole.

The pole
moves onto a flex machine.

In part, this is a stress test.

If there's any type of defect,
the pole will crack or break.

But the flexor

Also permanently puts a specific
degree of curve in the pole,

Which helps the athlete
vault higher.

Now they make what's called
the soft-side mark.

This helps the pole vaulter
locate the bend,

In order to know
where to grip the pole.

Next, they apply
a maximum-weight label,

Indicating how heavy
the vaulter can be.

To finish the surface now,

They mount the pole
on a spindle,

Then run a polishing pad
over it.

Then, using a solvent,
they clean off the debris.

Now that the surface
is pristine,

They wrap it
in thin, lightweight tape.

Different-colored tapes
designate different pole styles.

They cap the top of the pole
with plastic,

Then, at the bottom,

Mallet on a molded tip
made of hard rubber.

The finishing touch
is the manufacturer's decal.

Vaulting poles come in various
lengths, between 10 and 16 feet.

A pole designed
for a heavier vaulter

Has to be stiffer than one
designed for a lighter vaulter

Because the pole
has to propel more weight

With the same degree of bending.

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