Leather Overnight Bags Horse Exercisers Air Hockey Tables Copper Sculptures
Today on "how it's made"... Leather overnight bags... Horse exercisers... Air hockey tables... And copper sculptures. Whether heading across the country or taking a weekend getaway, people love to travel. Regardless of the destination, it's impossible to leave home without luggage. Luggage is made from all kinds of materials, including wood, metal, plastic, hi-tech polycarbonates, and leather. Not all leather overnight bags are created equal. This dark brown bag was constructed with the capacity to hold water. The process starts with full-grain hides, chrome-tanned by an outside facility. Chrome-tanning is an effective treatment which allows the leather to become more water resistant. This bag is constructed from a single piece of leather, making it more durable and water-tight. First, a leather worker uses a template to cut out the shape of the bag. He uses the machine to shave the edges off the piece of leather in a process called sciving, which prepares the leather for folding and sewing. Using a hole punch, another craftsman taps the series of openings for riveting on buckles and other attachments. The holes will prevent the opening from ripping. Next, a leather worker uses a template to mark where he'll apply a strip of glue to the top edge. He attaches a polyester strip to the bottom edge of the glue and spreads more glue on top of the polyester. Then he folds and hammers the top portion of the leather over onto the polyester strip. Once complete, the leather worker trims the edges of the polyester. The leather is then placed into a machine known as a clicker, to stamp out the bag straps and other leather components. The clicker works by applying 25 tons of pressure to custom-made dyes. The shoulder pad is one of 22 pieces of leather that will complete the bag. A craftsperson glues a foam rectangle between two layers of leather. This type of glue won't bubble in hot temperatures. Chrome-tanned hide is tough stuff, so manufacturers use a heated stamp to brand the leather with their logo. A leather worker uses a sewing machine to piece together multiple parts of the leather. The stitching perforations weakens the leather, so for added strength, the craftsman uses a heavy gauge continuous-filament polyester thread. Next, a craftsman attaches the buckles. He places one steel rivet in each buckle piece and secures it into place. He leaves the remaining rivets out to accommodate the sewing machine, which will reinforce the attachment. The buckles are made of high strength 316 stainless steel. A craftsman attaches a piece of plastic to reinforce the handle and prevent the leather from becoming misshapen over time. Once he's glued in pieces of plastic to each handle opening, the leather worker finishes all the seams. This type of continuous-filament polyester thread is the same kind that is used to sew parachutes together. Next, a craftswoman cleans the completed bag and applies a generous amount of leather milk to condition the leather. The leather milk is made of all-natural, non-toxic ingredients. The craftswoman uses a torch to singe off any stray hairs before the strap is attached to a set of upper or lower d-rings. This first little bag can now be worn as a backpack or a shoulder bag. Stylish and durable, this leather overnight bag is built to hold your stuff while you travel to any destination. Horses need regular exercise to stay healthy and fit. This innovative mechanical exerciser provides horses with a safe way to stay active on their own, especially if they spend long periods of time in their stalls. The rotating panels of this exerciser give horses the push they need to get moving. An operator regulates the speed of the panel, which controls the pace of the workout. Making this horse exerciser starts with a computer-generated design. This one is for a six-horse exerciser. Once designing is complete, production can begin. First, a sheet of mile-carbon steel uncoils into a rolling slitting machine. Circular blades above and below slice the steel sheet into strips. Most of the strips will be made into structural tubing. One of the strips enters a 300-foot-long machine with many rollers. The rollers shape the strip from flat to round. More rollers shape the material. As an induction coil energized by a radio-frequency electric current wields it together. A blade shaves the excess steel from the wielded steam. Meanwhile another tubing sheers the tubing against a set of guy clamping blocks, cutting it to the specified length. Finally, the tubing exits the cutting operation. A technician wields both plates to the tubing and adds a cable-stabilizer bar. The completed part will serve as one of the arms that link the center shaft to the revolving panels. Another machinist builds the panels for the exerciser's inner and outer walls. To do so, he arranges tubing horizontally and inserts a vertical support bar. He wields a framework to the tubing to hold the panel structure together. He adds a steel shield to the lower part. The shield will prevent sand from being forced out of the exerciser track by the horses' hooves. Once construction is complete, the technician stacks the assembled panels together. Next, an overhead monorail transports the panels to the powder-coating station. Using an applicator, a technician applies a powder coat to the revolving panels. The powder coat provides an anti-corrosive protective finish. A team clamps one of the structural panels in a machine with powerful mechanical arms. The arms bend the panel to a specified curvature. All the structural panels are bent to the same angle, so that when looked, they'll form a round pen. Using a press brake, a technician makes two strategic bends in a flat sheet of steel, which creates a flared three-walled part. Another machinist fits two of these parts together to create a structure known as the tree. Then he wields connectors to the tree for the cables and tubular arms. A loop is wielded on top for handling purposes. Then the tree is given a powder-coat finish to match the rest of the horse-exerciser machine. Using a hoist, a technician lowers the drive shaft onto the motor and shakes the framework to bring the connection into alignment. Then the assembly is tested to confirm the motor turns the shaft. Steel panels fit to the framework to enclose the motor and protect it from the elements. He attaches a door, so the motor can be accessed for maintenance. Now complete, the parts are ready for shipping. On-site assembly takes about nine hours, but it's well worth the wait when the horses get to test it out. Halfway through the test, the operator reverses the direction of the machine to ensure all of the horses' muscles are being exercised accordingly, proving that running around in circles can be a good thing. Air hockey was developed in the late '60s and early '70s by a group of american billiard engineers. When in play, the puck floats on a thin cushion of air, propelled by players on each end. With no friction, the puck moves fast, making air hockey a high-speed game. In a game of air hockey, the puck levitates ever so slightly, made possible by a constant flow of air flowing through perforations in the playfield. The playfield is made from a laminated composite material that's been printed with air hockey graphics. A computerized drill cuts into three playfields at once in the same consistent pattern. The size of the holes are a little larger than pin holes, creating over 4,600 perforations in each air hockey playfield. An automated tool carves grooves in a sheet of medium density fiber board. The board will serve as a base for the playfield. Air will circulate in the grooves and exit through the playfield holes. Next, sawdust is blasted out of the grooves. The grooves' fiberboard moves through a glue applicator. The rubber roller coats the top of the board with a small amount of glue, so it doesn't seep into the grooves. As the board exits, technicians move the board onto a stack. Once the board is in the correct position, the laminate is applied and aligned with the grooves in the fiber board. A cardboard cover is placed on the laminate for protection as the stack moves through a press. The weight of the press squeezes the stack together, ensuring adhesion as the glue cures. Meanwhile, a craftswoman applies stick-on graphics onto the side apron boards. She opens a pre-cut slot for a coin door and exposes a hole for a bolt. She cuts open a slot for maintenance access and removes the panel that will serve as a door. She numbers the door and the side apron piece, so she can match them up later during installation. After applying art work to the end panels, another technician assembles curved corner parts and links mental brackets to the side apron parts. He installs a bracket for a puck deflector in the center of the end panel and screws down the corner connectors. He sets the end panels in an upside-down possession on the work surface and attaches the side boards to the corner connectors. This completes the table apron. A locked door is installed in the plywood floor. This will serve as an interior storage compartment. Next, a craftsman installs the coin door and secures it into place. He mounts wire speakers that projects sound effects to a computerized optical system that tracks the puck's movements. Once the structure is fitted with wooden panels, the game's flashing lights and sensor activators are installed. At another station, a team flips a playfield over to work on the back. One technician attaches a board above the open grooves, creating a chamber for airflow. The motor and fan are installed over the small opening. This system will blow air into the grooves and the playfield perforations. The playfield is turned over and lowered onto the table structure. Next, aluminum bumpers are attached to the table's border as a barrier for the puck during play. A technician installs goal puck deflectors on the ends and screws in metal plates over the deflector cups. He installs a lock on each goal compartment so no one can steal the puck. Finally, the air hockey table assembly is complete. Let the games begin. Artisans have worked with copper for years. The metal is soft enough to easily cut, shape, and emboss. Unless sealed, copper's bright, shiny surface naturally tarnishes over time, producing a warm, aged finish, referred to as patina. These intricate copper sculptures are the work of an artist with a quirky imagination. This style of work is designed to rotate on rods as lawn art or weather vanes. When a customer commissions a sculpture, the artist draws the sculpture on cardstock, a thick type of paper. When planning a spinning sculpture like this griffin, the artist sketches the side view. Using a pair of scissors, he cuts off the excess cardstock. Then he uses smaller scissors to cut precisely along the lines of his drawing. Now the artist has a pattern to work with. He lays the pattern on a sheet of copper, tapes it down, and traces it with a fine-point pen to get a crisp line. The tracing must be precise for the sculpture's components to line up properly. He repeats this step on a second sheet of copper, since the sculpture will be two-sided. He cuts along the line with metal sheers. First, he cuts away the excess copper and then does the detailed cutting. He cuts out pieces for the left and right side of the sculpture. The artist draws an eye on the back of the right-side head. With a round-head hammer, he taps a piece of stainless-steel wire on the line to create an eyelid. He uses tools designed for stamping leather. He recesses the head, so that on the reverse side, the front of the sculpture, the head will appear raised. This technique brings dimension and texture to what was originally a flat piece of copper. The artist hammers the back of the wing to gradually contour and texture the feathers. He uses different tools to create finer effects such as veining. This age-old technique of hammering a malleable metal from the reverse side to create a design in relief is called repoussé, french for "pushed back". The artist heats a part with a torch and applies zinc chloride flux to the parameter. This caustic solution cleans the copper, removing impurities that would prevent solder from adhering. Then he uses a blowtorch to melt silver-based solder onto the copper, around the parameter of the part. This step is called pre-soldering, as the sculpture will be fully soldered later. He pre-solders the back of the pieces that will be attached to matching pieces. Then he heats the front surface to bring out a rainbow of colors. Next, he aligns the matching parts and heats them with a torch. This melts the solder along the parameter, fusing the pieces together. In areas where the sides are too far apart to be fused, he solders a small copper patch to fit over the gap. He flattens all the seams with fine grinding tools until they appear seamless. He repeats this process for each section of the sculpture. Once all the sections are assembled, he solders them to each other. The wing fits into a thin channel he hammered into the body of the sculpture. He melts the solder in the channel to produce a neat and even seam. To display the copper sculpture or use it as a weather vane, the artist solders a ball bearing inside a copper tube, then attaches the tube to the bottom of the sculpture. The tube slides over a rod, so it can be set in the ground or mounted on the roof.