Wood Slat Baskets Bells Gyroscopic Stabilizers
Today on "how it's made"... Traditional wood slat baskets are containers used to carry and gather food during a harvest. They're also used in retail settings to display produce, providing the consumer with a farm-fresh marketing aesthetic. Since the 1800, farmers have used wood slat baskets to hold and transport food. Today, they still come in handy at harvest time. Wood slat baskets are made out of american sweet gum trees. First, the freshly cut logs are sprayed with water so they don't dry out and decay. One at a time, spiked rollers grab the logs and turn them, as knives shave off all the bark. The de-barked log rolls down a conveyor to be cut to the specified length. The wood spins on a lathe as a blade cuts into the wood, producing long, thin sheets. Technicians pull the sheets forward and stack them. The sheets move through rollers. The rollers feed the stack to a long guillotine-type blade which chops them into slats. Once all of the slats have been cut, the slats are stacked and checked for quality. Technicians use these patterns to configure the wood slats and form a web. The technician distributes the slats in a specific order, which will add strength when the web is formed into a basket. He uses a staple gun to place staples into the center of the web to hold it together. At another station, workers evaluate and grade narrower strips of wood that will be formed into bands to hold the baskets together. Then, using a basket machine, technicians form the web into a basket. The machine wraps bands around the basket and staples them to reinforce the shape. In seconds, the basket takes shape. Once it's complete, the baskets are removed from the machine and placed on a conveyor belt. At another station, technicians build a basket with a base made of solid wood. This base will provide the basket with additional strength. Workers arrange slats to build the basket. Automated staplers secure the slats to the solid-wood base. Bands are attached to hold the basket together. A technician places the rim of the basket into a machine that drives thick wire into the basket. The machine's formers bend the wire into a handle and cut the ends. The technician turns the basket over for a matching handle on the opposite side. The baskets now take a slow trip through a dryer. This step removes the majority of the moisture in the wood. Once complete, the produce baskets slide down a steel slope. A technician evaluates their quality and stacks them accordingly. Next, the lids are constructed. Technicians place wood slats in the slots of a conveyor. This positions them to be formed into squares, known as mats. The conveyor takes them forward, and a device creates staples from wire, punching them into the mats to secure the arrangement. Meanwhile, a worker prepares the lids' hoops. First, he steams gum wood strips, which makes the wood pliable. Then he tucks one end of the wood into the revolving wheel of the machine, which shapes the wood into a hoop. The ends are then secured with staples. An assembler fits the hoop around a circular platform... And places the mat on top. The platform rotates as a stapler attaches the hoop to the slats. The mat must now be trimmed flush to the hoop so that it will fit more neatly on the rim of the basket. To do so, another assembler places the corners of the mat under a semi-circular blade, chopping off the excess wood. The wood slat lid is now ready to be put on the basket. A device bends wire into a loop that will be used to fasten the lid to the basket. This factory can make up to 6,000 wood slat baskets a day. That's a lot of empty baskets to fill. For thousands of years, we've used bells to make noise. The concept behind them is simple. A clapper or hammer strikes the bell wall creating vibrations that disturb the air. The disturbance causes the ringing sound. It's not high tech, but it can be high-pitched. Every bell has a distinctive ring. From the festive jingle of sleigh bells, to the clang of the boxing bell that marks the beginning of a fight. Even the cow bell has a sound that's not quite like any other. The bell's shape and the material it's made from affect the ring's pitch. To make a cow bell, an assembler uses two flared steel components to form a cone. He inserts a handle between the two parts at the top... And welds the seams of the bell shell to hold the two parts together. Then he welds the handle to the cow bell body. The handle contains a small loop that extends inside the bell body to hold the clapper. This strip of steel is about to be transformed into sleigh bells. An upper die forces the steel strip into dies on a rotating platter. The dies form the metal into a shape that resembles an open flower. Ball bearings funnel into a shoot. The ball bearings land in the open flowers on the platter. The upper die closes the petals of the flower creating a round sleigh bell. The rattle of the interior ball bearing will create the sound. A device pops the bell out of the die and the sleigh bells fall into a bin. Once the sleigh bells are plated with nickel, they are ready for rattling. At another station, a boxing bell begins to takes shape. An assembler transfers the bell to a punch that cuts a hole in the center. The punch forces it on to a form that contours the area around the hole. Oil keeps the metal lubricated as it's forming. The gongs tumble around in a machine with vibrating ceramic stones, detergent, and water. The stones scrub off the oil and rub off rough edges. After about 10 minutes, the gongs emerge smooth and clean. They land in the tub of ground corn cobs. The corn absorbs residual water as it pulsates in this vibratory machine. A technician places the gongs in an oven. This heat treatment rearranges the crystalline structures of the steel and hardens it. Making the steel more resilient will also make the gong sound more resonant when struck. The gongs are sprayed with a powder coating. When baked on, the powder particles will form a protective skin on the metal and provide the gongs with a uniform finish. A powder coat is sprayed on the bell's baseplate, and an adhesive-backed company logo is applied to the back. Posts have been installed on the front for assembling the other parts. A brass lever for operating the bell hammer and the mechanism that will swing it, called a dog. The assembler rivets the dog to the lever and hooks one end of a spring to the mechanism. He fastens another spring to the hammer and then hooks the end to the baseplate. He installs the hammer on one of the posts. Using a push nut, he secures the hammer to the post. He hooks the lever spring on the baseplate and slides the lever onto a post just under the hammer. Another push nut locks the lever in place. The assembler pulls the lever, examining the movement, adjusting accordingly. He now adds the gong, aligning the center hole to the threaded post in the middle of the backplate. He screws on a fastener to hold the gong in place. He pulls the lever to confirm that the hammer hits the gong and makes a noise. Finally this boxing bell is now ready for the ring. at the turn of the 20th century, gigantic gyroscopes were used to stabilize ships. Even though they were effective, the devices were large and heavy. Today, gyroscopes are smaller, lighter, and are highly effective stabilizers. The boat on the left has a gyroscopic stabilizer that counteracts wave action. Different boats require different sized gyroscopes. This complex device includes a flywheel and a hydraulic brake which controls its movement. A large hammer forge has pounded the flywheels into this shape. The process begins on a cnc lathe that shapes this aircraft quality alloyed steel to perimeters with very small tolerances-- roughly one third the diameter of a hair strand. The shafts, or bearing journals, are put into a machine which form the axis on which the flywheel will spin. A diamond wheel grinds the journal to the specified size and shape. Once complete, the flywheel is balanced. A state of the art balancing machine i.d.s exactly which spots need adjustment. Highly trained technicians carefully grind off small quantities of steel in the identified spots before putting the object through more tests. With tolerances of just a fraction of an ounce, even a tiny particle of dust can throw off the flywheel's balance. A probe locates this aluminum cast hemisphere so that a machine can begin processing it. The hemisphere will form one half of the enclosure that will house the flywheel. It must be precision machined so that it can form a perfect airtight seal. Made of aluminum to decrease overall weight, the airtight enclosure is one of the crucial elements of this gyroscope. Once it's completely sealed, all the air will be vacuumed out and helium will be pumped in. Because helium is so much lighter than air, the flywheel will be able to spin much faster due to radically diminished friction. Machining with horizontal and vertical cnc tools and a vertical grinder brings the bearing housing within reach of the required parameters. A technician attaches the vacuum valves which will allow air to be removed from the enclosure. Then he installs some of the sensors that carefully monitor the gyroscope's status. He applies a specified torque to tighten the component in place. A generous amount of grease is applied to the large o-ring that fits perfectly into a groove in the lip of one hemisphere. The o-ring will ensure a vacuum tight seal when the two hemispheres of the enclosure come together. These heavy duty eye bolts form an attachment point for lifting, which helps move the gyroscope in and out of position. Once everything has been put together, the technician connects the flywheel to the enclosure. He begins bolting an inner and outer set of retainer rings in place. These rings will support the flywheel assembly. Faster spinning in its vacuum containment will allow the gyroscope to achieve the same stabilizing effect as a much larger, heavier flywheel spinning at a slower speed. The technician joins the sub-assembly to the second hemisphere, carefully lifting and lowering it into place before bolting the enclosure securely together. But the gyroscope stabilizer isn't done yet. It still needs to be mounted to a specialized foundation assembly. Early attempts to use gyroscopes for stabilizing boats weren't successful because the gyroscopes were too big and heavy. But thanks to some state of the art technical innovations, a new breed of lighter, smaller gyroscopes can easily keep a boat deck steady, even in rough weather. A technician uses a specialized device to measure three important factors of the flywheel's performance. Concentricity, eccentricity, and clearance. This means he's checking to see if the component is spinning smoothly and consistently without any wobbling. He spins the flywheel slowly on its axis, evaluating the meter accordingly. The gimbal shaft will allow the sphere to tilt back and forth, stabilizing the boat. A technician installs a set of steel dowel pins that will hold the brake cylinders in place. He uses a press to install the spherical bearing and urethane that will permit the sphere to shift its axial rotation and absorb vibration. With the bearing and protector in place, he mounts the gimbal shaft securely to the gyroscope enclosure. A total of 10 heavy duty bolts are tightened to the specified torque value. Next, the technician installs the cover and bolts it in place, sealing the enclosure and fully rounding out its exterior. Once the valve is installed, he checks for leaks by spraying helium outside of the enclosure. This meter will register the presence of helium if the lightweight gas sneaks in through any cracks. This magnetically mounted sensor will allow the technician to conduct final trim balance, ensuring a vibration-free operation. It's vital to keep vibration to a minimum to make sure that the gyroscope provides a smooth, stable boat ride. Now it's time to attach the cooling components. When the flywheel spins at 9,000 rpms, it generates heat. Sea water mixed with glycol is used to keep it cool. The enclosure will sit in a framework known as the foundation, which is made of cast aluminum. Once the gimbal shafts are set within their lower housings, which are situated on either side of the foundation, a technician installs the upper housings and bolts them securely in place. This aluminum section of the foundation will support the hydraulic brake arm, a key component of the gyroscope's function. The brake support piece also doubles as a support structure for the heat exchanger, which is an important element of the gyroscope's cooling system. The technician installs the brake arm cylinder. This helps the gyro perform in all weather and at all speeds. He installs the hydraulic lines for the brake system. They manage the flow of hydraulic fluid to and from the cylinders. The solenoids that make up the major elements of this assembly dictate braking pressure to the hydraulic cylinder. The drive box controls the brake, the start up, and speed of the flywheel and the angle sensors, which detect the roll rate and angle of the boat. The drive box receives data from the rest of the gyroscope. This wiring harness serves as the conduit of information to and from the components of the unit. Once assembled, the technician installs the remaining support arm on the other side of the gyroscope. Before the assembled gyroscope gets its aluminum cover piece, it must undergo a thorough factory assessment test. The test ensures that it's fully functioning and meets all design parameters. There is no question that gyroscopic stabilizers help maintain level heads on deck.