Glass Sculptures Racing Pulley Systems Inductors Medicine Balls
the use of glass as an artistic medium dates back to ancient egypt. Despite the obvious fragility of glass sculptures, this art form has an enduring appeal. The transparency of glass often has a ghost-like quality. They're tangible works of art that are skillfully crafted. With this glass sculpture of a horse, the artist's two passions come together-- art and horsemanship. The artist takes inspiration from her horse, observing the swell of his muscles as he romps in order to create the same sense of movement in glass. She then draws a series of sketches of the horse in different stances. These sketches are an artistic study. They help her work out the sculpture's form before actually creating one. She cleans solid glass rods to prepare them for sculpting. This is borosilicate glass, which is more resistant to thermal shock than other kinds of glass. She brings the glass into the flame of a torch to soften it. Once softened, she can fuse two of the rods together. Then using tweezers and flat, knife-like tools, she sculpts the glass into the shape of the horse's hips and legs. She works quickly so the glass doesn't have a chance to cool and fracture. She adds a smaller piece of glass and forms it into a tail. She constantly turns the glass as she works it to make sure it looks good from all angles. She melts glass in front of the hips to build up the body and shape the horse's belly, back, and chest. This is intensive and precision work. The piece must be exposed to a well-adjusted flame and constantly moved so it doesn't become too hot and melt too much. She adds glass to the front and sculpts the shoulders and part of the front legs. She removes a little piece of extra glass. She deposits the sizzling, unwanted bit in water to cool it down and dispose of it safely. She does more work on the front legs. She'll refine them and form hooves later, but now she bakes the partially sculpted glass horse in a kiln. This is the first annealing, which realigns molecules to prevent cracking. She forms the head and mane separately from the body. This is more intricate work. The features are much more detailed, so she uses smaller tools. Once she shapes the eye sockets, she melts little blobs of black glass into them. She sculpts the eyes with a flat knife. She carves creases above them to create an eyelid effect. She adds glass for the ears. Then, using a tool called a masher, she pinches the ears to squeeze them thinner. She heats them again. This process can cause the ears to stick together, so she cuts them to separate them. She curls the ears using tweezers and tweaks their position on the horse's head. She melts the base of the head to the body, and they become one. She fuses more glass to the back to craft a mane, and after another annealing, she returns to the legs. She softens them with a flame again and adds definition to the fetlock joints. She cuts the tips to create a more level surface. She melts black glass on to the ends of the legs and sculpts it into the shapes of hooves. With a series of tools, she tweaks each hoof until she's satisfied this glass horse will stand the way she wants it to. After another annealing, she shines a polarized light through the sculpture and examines it for stresses that could compromise its structure. Finding none, this galloping work of glass art is complete. It's been made with great care and caring. To turn a regular car into a race car, one needs to change the pulley system mounted to its engine. Factory-installed pulley systems are heavy, and their pulley-size ratios are designed for driving at low speeds. A racing pulley system is lightweight and has pulley ratios for high-speed driving. Replacing the factory-installed pulley system on a car engine with one of these racing pulley systems is like putting a car on steroids. The components of this system are determined by what the engine already comes with. For example, if the engine's water pump is too heavy for racing, this company makes a lightweight one along with a size-appropriate pulley to go with it. To make a pulley, an automatic saw cuts a patty off an aluminum bar. Workers then mount the patty on a computer-guided lathe. As the lathe spins, multiple tools shape the patty into a pulley. The first two tools drill a hole in the center and machine the overall shape. Then, this tool bores the hole to a precise diameter. This tool carves grooves along the perimeter for the pulley belt. This broaching tool makes 17 vertical grooves inside the bored hole corresponding to grooves on a shaft, locking the pulley in place. A worker removes the partially-formed pulley from the lathe and mounts it on a computer-guided mill. The mill's first tool drills six round holes. The next tool reshapes those holes into triangles known as windows. This reduces the pulley's weight. The factory sends all pulleys out to a plating shop which coats the aluminum with the hard, black protective finish known as anodizing. This is a different type of crankshaft pulley. To make it, the automated saw first cuts a patty from a smaller aluminum bar. Then, a worker mounts it on a computer-guided lathe. After the first tool evens out the surface, this tool drills a hole through the center. The next tool enlarges that hole. The next tool cuts a female pattern inside the hole. A female pattern has grooves which receive corresponding protruding areas of a male pattern. The lathe then transfers the patty to another spindle to expose the opposite side for machining. The first tool shapes the back. The next one cuts a male pattern. With a female pattern on one side and a male pattern on the other, multiple pulleys can be stacked and interlocked to accurately align the system. The final tool cuts straight teeth for a square-tooth belt. When an original engine component is replaced with a new, smaller, and lighter one suitable for racing, the factory must also make a smaller, lighter bracket to mount the new component to the engine. A computer-guided mill shapes a rectangular piece of aluminum cut by the same automated saw that cut the patties for the pulleys. Brackets, like pulleys, go out for anodizing. When they come back to this factory, they get laser-printed with a brand name and model. Here's how the pulley system assembles on this particular engine. First, the technician bolts an adapter to the harmonic balancer. The harmonic balancer is a component on all engines that lessens vibration. Next, he installs the new crankshaft pulley on to the adapter, attaching it with a long central bolt that extends beyond the harmonic balancer and into the engine's crankshaft. He installs a new lightweight water pump, which has a new mounting bracket for the alternator attached to its left side. Then, he bolts on a new water-pump pulley, which has grooves for two belts. After mounting a new lightweight alternator, he connects the water-pump pulley to the crankshaft and power steering pump pulleys with one belt and to the alternator pulley with another belt. This allows simultaneous steering, battery charging, and water circulating to cool the engine. Coiled copper devices called inductors provide storage for electrical circuits. As electrical current flows through the coils, a magnetic field is produced. The inductor stores the electromagnetic energy until the circuit is ready for it. They're one of the most important parts in the circuit. Inductors come in many shapes and sizes. Conductive windings surround an iron-based core to provide temporary energy storage and to regulate the current flowing through a circuit. To make an inductor, manufactures use plenty of flame-resistant insulating material. They cut sheets of it to the desired dimensions. An operator programs this an automatic shear to cut the electrical insulation into long strips. The hydraulically driven blade makes clean, straight cuts. These strips will be used to insulate the inductor core and coils. A worker folds a rectangular piece of insulation around an aluminum form to start the inductor coil. She tapes the ends together. She pulls a strip of copper foil to the insulation. She's pre-soldered a terminal to the end of the foil, and she tapes the terminal to the insulating material. She begins to wind the copper foil around the insulating material and stops. She places one of the long insulating strips under the copper foil and resumes winding. This prevents short circuits. She clamps the copper windings tightly together and tucks an extra piece of the insulation under the copper. She hammers the copper to flatten any kinks. She solders a second terminal to this end of the copper foil windings. These terminals will be used to connect the inductor to the electrical circuit. She holds the terminal in place with a metal dowel and the soldering iron until the solder solidifies. She then cuts the copper strip along the edge of the terminal. She applies fiberglass tape to the soldered terminal joint. She removes the clamp and adds more tape to keep the terminal in place. She then winds fiberglas tape around the inside of the inductor coil. This outer wrap will prevent shocks to anyone who might touch the inductor when it's part of an electrical circuit. Using a tough nylon block to absorb the impact, she hammers the inductor coil to make it more rectangular. She removes the coil from the winding machine. Next up is this hard, polyester-infused fiberglass. Manufacturers will ultimately use it to insulate the core and fill the gaps. With a hydraulic shear, a worker cuts the fiberglass into strips that will fit in the core. Another worker clamps two of the insulated copper windings side by side. She inserts a c-shaped iron core in one end of the copper windings and flips the inductor assembly over. She connects the protruding terminals with a tin-copper jumper. She inserts insulating spacers into both cavities. These fiberglass spacers will fill the gap between the two iron "c's". She installs the second half of the iron core. When alternating current is applied to the copper windings, it will create a magnetic field in this core, and this is how the energy will be stored. She tucks a couple of fiberglass insulating spacers between the iron "c's" and the coils. She drives them deeper into the inductor. She loops a stainless-steel band around the iron core and pulls it tight with pneumatic tensioning tool. She solders the ends of the band to secure it. Workers immerse the inductor in a vat of varnish under vacuum pressure. The varnish completely seals the inductor against dirt and moisture. This instrument detects any problems with the insulation. It's one of several tests conducted. If the inductor passes them all, it's ready for the electrical circuit. A medicine ball has nothing to do with medicine but everything to do with health. This heavy ball is an effective workout tool, available in a variety of sizes and weights. It can be used for a wide range of exercises to improve strength, coordination, and cardiovascular fitness. Medicine balls are mass-produced in a variety of materials. This company is one of the few remaining which craft traditional leather medicine balls entirely by hand. The craftsman uses shoe leather, which is thicker and sturdier than garment leather. He places a pattern on top and cut loosely around it with the utility knife. This steel-cutting die precision-shapes the panel. The craftsman places it on the rough-cut panel. Then, with a press, forces the sharp die through the leather. The ball is made up of seven panels like this one. Once he has cut all seven, he repeats the process with the circular pattern, then a circular die. This cuts two leather circles--  one for each end of the ball. He cuts identical pieces from nylon cloth. These pieces will line the seven panels and two circles. For the circle linings, he first hand-cuts squares. Then he cuts those squares into circles with the die. He clamps each lining to its corresponding leather piece and sews them together with heavy-duty polyester thread. This industrial sewing machine is known as a cylinder bed machine because the sewing surface is cylindrical rather than flat, which enables working with a three-dimensional shape. He takes two of the lined panels, and one at a time, puts them back on the press, this time using a different cutting die. It cuts a notch in eight lace holes. He then places one of these panels in an embossing press, which heat-stamps the brand name into the leather. Using different dies, he cuts pieces of vinyl to reinforce the lace holes, then sews them to the panels. This is the only area where the bright red thread will be visible. He sews the panels to each other until he's formed a closed circle. However, he doesn't yet stitch together that notched area between the two sets of lace holes. First, he sews the lined leather circles to the ends. The ball's leather shell is complete, but inside out and with a gap between the lace holes. The craftsman hands it off to a colleague who inverts the shell and presses the seams against a metal rod to stretch and round them out. Now it's time to stuff the shell. The worker takes shredded scraps of leather, inserts them through the gap between the lace holes, then compresses the scraps with a thick wooden dowel. Once the ball is fully stuffed, he makes sure the ball has reached the target weight. Weight precision, however, is less important than perfect roundness. To close up the ball, he threads a thick rawhide lace through a large brass needle and threads it through the lace holes, pulling tightly. This is the same sturdy lacing configuration that's used on footballs. He uses two large, thick nails to properly size the end loops. Then he snips off the excess lace. And pokes each end inside a lace hole. Now he can safely remove the nails. With a final pounding here and there to perfect the shape, this medicine ball is ready to pull its weight in someone's exercise regiment.