Dinnerware Air Brake Tanks Frosted Cereal Fossils
Restaurant dinnerware brings a lot to the table. It's known for rugged good looks, it holds up to heavy use and repeated cleaning in commercial dishwashers, and its design reflects the restaurant's theme and adds presentation value to the food. Most people appreciate the effort that goes into a fine meal, but they may not give much thought to what it takes to make the actual plate the food is served up on. Making ceramic dinnerware that's restaurant-quality is an intensive process-- one that starts with a master die made of gypsum. This worker then makes a production version of the master. To do this, he pours gypsum into a wire-mesh frame above the master. There's tubing attached to the mesh frame, and he pumps air through it. This causes the water in the gypsum to bubble out and evaporate. It dries and solidifies into a mirror image of the master-- in this case, a platter shape. The tubing inside this production die will be used again later to gently blow off the platter when formed, releasing it from the die. Another worker adds the ceramic ingredients to water. They including a plasticizer, silica sand, different clays, and minerals like alumina. Once the clay mix has been thoroughly blended, they drain it onto a vibrating sieve to screen out large mineral chunks and impurities. The clay-based liquid flows through the screen into a holding tank. They pump it through this filter press. It compresses fabric-covered plastic plates to squeeze out moisture, turning the clay liquid into putty-like slabs. With this consistency, it can now be shaped. A worker breaks up the slabs and feeds the pieces to a pug mill. The mill shapes the clay into a long cylinder, and, in the process, it sucks out air so dinnerware made from it will be less prone to cracking. He slices the clay cylinder into small wads, using a wire cutter. Each of these clay wads will be shaped into one plate. They place each wad onto molds on a revolving platform. The mold spins up to a metal tool, which presses the clay into the shape of the plate mold below. The tool also forms the back so the plate will sit evenly on a table. A nozzle lubricates the metal tool between pressings. A cutter at the side trims the rims of the plates as they're formed. Unlike the platter die, these molds don't have tubing inside to blow off the plates. Instead, the heat from the dryer separates them from the molds. Once out of the molds, the plates spin on pedestals past a sponge to smooth the edges. To make coffee mugs, the pug mill presses out a narrower cylinder, and a knife at the exit point slices it into precise wads. The wads fall into coffee-mug molds, and a tool spins the clay up against the walls of the molds to shape it into mugs. A blade at the top trims the excess from the lip of the mug. They pass under a long sponge to smooth the rims. And now for the handles. They make them in two-part molds and dry them under an infrared light. The handles must have precisely the same moisture content as the mugs-- around 16%. A worker dips the ends of each handle in a clay-and-glue mixture and presses it to the mug. The mugs go into a dryer, and the moisture content drops to 4%. Next, they douse the mugs with glaze inside and out and bake them in a super-hot kiln. This will make the mugs chip-resistant and will strengthen the bond between the handle and the mug. They paint the dinnerware by hand, using a ceramic stain. The stain will enable it to hold up to repeated rigorous cleanings in restaurant dishwashers. For a different look, they apply decals to some dinnerware. This artwork has been produced using the same hard-wearing ceramic stain. The plates then head into the oven, and the heat fuses the decorative touches to them. From a liquid clay mix to tableware you can dine out on. The process has taken about 24 hours. It should serve you well. Air-brake tanks are part of powerful brake systems on tractor trailers and buses. When the driver depresses the brake pedal, the tank releases the compressed air to activate the brakes so the big wheels slow down and stop turning. The energy used to stop a big rig comes from air. It's compressed and stored in the brake tanks so there's always a ready supply. They make air-brake tanks from industrial-grade steel that's about as thick as a typical magazine. A press forces the steel around a dome form and shears the edges to produce the tank's end caps. It also punches a hole in each cap for a fitting. The cap's dome shape is critical. It will allow it to withstand the air pressure inside the tank. The tank caps now ride a conveyor under sprayers that wash away residual oil from the pressing process. More steel sheeting feeds into another press. It's twice as thick as the steel used to make the end caps. This press is punching and forming brackets for attaching the air tank to the trailer undercarriage, so these connecting parts have to be extra-strong. It takes six punches to shape the flat sheet of steel into the curved brackets. Here's an example of the six formative stages. Machinery now flattens and cuts bigger sheets of steel for the tank body. Mechanized clamps grip the sheet along the edges and position it under another punch press. It perforates the steel where fittings are to be installed. It also stamps the company name and other manufacturing information onto it. They feed the sheet to a roller that curls it into the cylindrical tank shell. The rolling is precise, and the dimensions of the cylinder don't need any adjusting. The worker clamps it into a fixture. A carriage moves a welding torch overhead to join the ends and create an airtight seal. A worker inspects the weld. The next worker welds fittings onto the holes punched into the tank shell earlier. Two of the fittings are for attaching valves that control the flow of compressed air. The third fitting will be used to connect a line for draining water formed during air compression. He reinforces the fittings with large collars that help the connections withstand any bumps on the road. He places the brackets and end caps in an automatic welder and activates it. It fuses the bracket to the cap-- one for each of the air tank's end caps. With both bracketed end caps now installed on the cylindrical shell, it's time to seal this air tank. The tank turns on a welding lathe as automated welders bond them to the shell. The air-tank structure is now basically complete. It's time to put it to the test. After plugging the open fittings, they pump highly compressed air into the tank-- more than it would usually handle. If it can take all the pressure, it's deemed structurally sound. They bring the pressure down a bit and check for leaks. Bubbles in the water around it would indicate air is seeping out, but in this case, there are only a few ripples from the action of placing it in the water. After a cleaning, the airtight tank heads into a powder-coating station. Sprayers apply the powdered resin coating to the tanks. The particles are positively charged, and the tanks are negatively charged for an instant attraction. The black powder clings to the tanks as they now travel through a gas-fired oven. The heat melts and bonds the coating to the surface of the air-brake tanks, forming a tough skin that's rust-resistant. After the tanks cool, a worker inserts a long, thin paint gun through one of the fittings to spray a rustproof coating on the inside. He then inserts plugs into all the fittings to protect the threads from damage until they're ready to make all the necessary connections. It's taken about five hours to produce these air-brake tanks, and it's now time to put on the brakes. Frosted cereal originated in america in the 1950s, and today, you'll find versions of it on breakfast tables around the world. It's one of the first things some people reach for in the morning. The sugary coating complements the flavor of the grains. It's one way to awaken the taste buds. This particular blend of frosted cereal is a combination of wheat flakes, corn flakes, and granola clusters. Half the flakes are frosted, and half aren't. There's honey, rolled oats, and rice in the granola. The mix of the ingredients means there are still a few surprises in the frosted-cereal box. To make the corn flakes, they start with corn grits. They measure out a specific amount and release it into an industrial version of a pressure cooker. The operator locks the lid, and the system pipes water and flavorings directly into the cooker. It rotates for an even distribution of heat and an even cooking of the grains. After about three hours, the kernels have absorbed moisture and softened. As the corn flows out of the cooker, a screw-conveyor system moves it towards a dryer. They cook a measured amount of whole-wheat kernels in water and flavorings. They only need an hour in the rotating pressure cooker. Like the corn, the whole wheat absorbs a significant amount of water during cooking. The kernels are about 30% moisture when they exit the cooker. They now merge with the corn en route to the dryer. The drying time will bring the moisture content down to about 19%, making the kernels the right consistency to be transformed into flakes. The grains now flow into a mill. The mill has two big, heavy rollers, similar to the kind used to pave roads. The kernels fall between these rollers. The rollers exert tons of pressure to flatten each individual kernel into a flake. In the process, the wheat flakes turn whiter and the corn turn more yellow. At this point, the flakes are still quite soft and not really tasty. A trip through a long toaster oven will give it that crispy cereal consistency. It's a high-temperature toasting and reduces the moisture content to 3%. Here, you can see the flakes before toasting... And after. The toasting not only makes the corn and wheat flakes crispy-- it also enhances the color and flavor. A ride on a conveyor cools them down. Along the way, they split into two different streams. One stream of the mixed flakes travel towards the sugar-coating station. The other heads into a flavoring drum. The drum revolves to gently toss the cereal as a sprayer applies a granola kind of flavoring. The other stream of wheat and corn flakes enters the sugar-coating drum. A sprayer disperses a sugar-and-water mixture as the drum tosses the flakes. Then they travel through a dryer, and this cures the frosting to the flakes. The frosted and the flavored flakes flow onto the same conveyor. It bounces the flakes around to blend them together. To boost the nutrition content, they add honey-flavored granola. The granola clusters flow onto a conveyor. They'll merge with the frosted and flavored flakes. The feeder pipe showers granola onto the flakes. This frosted cereal is now ready for store shelves. Machinery dispenses specific amounts into a plastic sleeve, and a mechanism heat-seals and severs it at both ends. Mechanical arms then pick up boxes, open them, and deposit them on a conveyor. Push rods shove the bags of cereal into the boxes. The "best before" date and other information have been printed on the outside of the boxes. Nozzles apply glue to the ends, and the boxes brush by a side barrier that closes them. Producing and packaging this frosted-cereal blend has taken about five hours, and if the breakfast crowd is hungry, it won't last long. Its time on the table could be short and sweet. A fossil is a remnant of prehistoric life embedded in rock-- either the actual remains of an animal or plant or an impression left by decayed remains. Most fossils are hundreds of millions of years old and remind us that humans have been around for a small part of the earth's existence. Fossils are made by nature but collected and preserved by man for display in museums, as well as in private collections. One of the world's richest fossil deposits is located in the southwestern part of the state of wyoming. 50 million years ago, the area was a freshwater lake. With climate changes, it gradually dried out, leaving wildlife and flora buried under layers of sediment. Over time, that sediment hardened into sheets of rock containing fossils of those former life forms. To find fossils in what were the shallower edges of the prehistoric lake, they drive thin blades about 4/10 of an inch deep to loosen and separate sheets of rock. In this part of the deposit, the fossil is often split between two layers of rock, which is why they call this particular dig area "the split-fish quarry". They repeat the process, excavating several layers. They typically find fossils of smaller herring-type fish, plants, and insects. They carefully separate the large rock sheets into smaller pieces so that it's easier to transport their haul from the quarry to the workshop. This sedimentary rock is oil shale-- a substitute for conventional crude oil. Scratch the surface, and it smells, and it'll burn. However, there's not enough actual oil in this deposit to make extraction viable. In the company's second quarry, they blow away surface debris to make it easier to spot fossils. Recovery is more difficult here because this part of the deposit was the deep center of the prehistoric lake. Wildlife was buried under far more sediment. It takes a highly trained eye and the low angle of morning sunlight to see the slight shadow which a fossil's ridges cast on the ground. After outlining their find, they use a saw with a diamond blade to cut around it. They've removed the surrounding rock to be able to slide their thin blades underneath... Then gently extract their treasure. This is a tricky procedure. One wrong move, and the fossil shatters. In the workshop, under five-times magnification and using a variety of sharpened tools, they carefully scrape away the surface until the dark color of the fossil shows through. To fully reveal a fossil this size takes 30 to 40 hours of tedious and meticulous work. As for the rock sheets from the split quarry, they saw the fossils apart, neatly framing each one within a rectangle. Layers flake off more easily from split-quarry rock than from the harder rock of the other quarry. Once a fossil is completely exposed, they seal and protect the surface with a light coat of spray-on acrylic. When exposing a fossil, it's critical to keep sharpening the tools on a diamond file, and, for visibility, to repeatedly clean the work surface with an eraser or brush. How many layers of rock have to be scratched off varies. A fossil can be sitting right on the surface or be buried a fraction of an inch or so beneath it. This freshwater stingray, a rare find, is about as intricate as a fossil gets. This fellow took more than a month to prepare. The detail of this large palm-leaf fossil is astounding. You can actually see insect bites. And as this leaf fossilized on the prehistoric lake bed, so did the fish swimming around it, producing an incredible stone snapshot of life 50 million years ago.