Basque Pelota Balls Pallet Trucks Dumplings Brass Faucets
Today on "how it's made"... Pelota is a ball game that originated in the basque region of france and spain. Most versions are played against a wall, in which the player throws the ball either by hand, racket, bat, or basket. Occasionally the game is played in teams, where players are separated by a net or a line on the ground. Basque pelota balls come in different diameters and weights, according to the type of play for which they're designed. But all of them have had the same basic construction for hundreds of years-- a core wrapped in rubber, wool, and leather. To make the rubber wrapping, this machine deposits a line of natural rubber onto a paper strip. Next a heating lamp softens the rubber to a formable consistency, while the machine applies a second paper strip on top. This process sandwiches the rubber together. Then two rollers compress the encased rubber into a flat strip. Today, a pelota ball's core is typically made of plastic. The size of the core varies according to the final diameter and weight of the ball. The second machine removes the paper and wraps the rubber strip around the core, maintaining its perfectly round shape. The machine stops wrapping when the ball reaches a specific diameter and weight. Manufacturers place the rubber-wrapped core on a third machine, which wraps it in wool yarn, carefully maintaining a perfectly round shape. The ball continues wrapping until the ball reaches a specific diameter and weight. Now they prepare the ball's outer layer. They take a piece of goatskin and trace a figure-8 pattern around it repeatedly. Then the shapes are cut out with a utility knife. The goatskins are soaked in water for a few minutes to make them supple. Then they coat the yarn with liquid synthetic rubber... Take two goatskins per ball... And wrap them in opposite directions. The skins are held in place temporarily with about a dozen tiny nails. With strong synthetic thread, they sew the hides to each other. The key is to pull the stitches tightly so that the ball inside is immobilized. Once the sewing is complete, they remove the nails. They apply their maker's mark with a felt pen. Next the ball undergoes a size test, using the gauge that corresponds to the ball's intended diameter. If the ball does not pass through the first hole but passes through the second, the diameter is correct. The final step is to grease the leather with tallow-- purified fat from cows' kidneys. One small glob evenly coats 20 or so balls after about 10 minutes in this specially designed machine. The tallow nourishes and protects the leather. No finished ball leaves the manufacturer without undergoing a bounce test. Pelota balls used in regulation play must have a plastic core, whereas balls used strictly for recreation may have a core made of boxwood. White pelota balls are designed for playing against a colored wall. Balls designed for play against a white wall are dyed black prior to applying tallow. Pelota is also played across a net or a line on the ground, the size of the ball varying with the version of the sport. A pallet truck is a workhorse in the warehouse. This electrically powered vehicle loads and unloads products from tractor-trailers and travels up and down aisles to deliver and retrieve products on low racks. The driver stands on the truck's platform to steer and operate the forks. Need a lift? A pallet truck is small but mighty. It can lift loads that weigh up to 8,000 pounds. This computerized laser cuts out many of the pallet-truck parts from a sheet of steel, and the software ensures that there's minimal waste. A technician inserts one of the parts in a brake press. It folds the edges, creating flaps to form it into part of the vehicle battery box. This is the part before and after bending. At the next station, an operator clamps fork frames in a welding fixture. He adds multiple steel supports at the base of the fork frames and along the sides. They'll strengthen the structure and add balance to allow the forks to carry heavy loads. As the fixture rotates, the robotic welder moves in and fuses the supports to the frames. At the next station, the fully assembled battery box is lowered into place and positioned upside down. Operators place the fork frames on top and lock them into place. The fixture slants the parts towards the robot so that it can get into tight spots and weld them together. They also weld together the structure that will house the transmission. The parts plunge into a series of solutions. The first baths remove grease and residue. The final one preps the metal for a powder-coat finish. Then a worker applies an electrostatic charge to powder particles. The particles gravitate to the parts and form a powder coat on the surface. The powder coat gives the parts a protective skin and a uniform sheen. Next, technicians install a metal rack on the fork frames to help contain the truck cargo. They clamp the assembly in a fixture that holds it sideways so that technicians can install pull rods in the base of the forks. Powered by hydraulics, the rods will move the forks up and down when needed. Powder-coated bright red, the truck structure is ready for the components. A worker bolts swiveling caster wheels to the base. Another worker then installs the steel arms that will link hydraulics to the pull rods. Moving around to the back of the structure, she connects the arms to the hydraulic pistons. She runs hoses from the hydraulic fluid reservoir to the pistons and torques the fittings. Each structure is marked to indicate it's been torqued correctly. A probe gauges the measurements of parts like this transmission bracket. If the measurements are off, the part can't be properly assembled. At another station, a technician bolts the drive tire to the transmission and motor assembly. A crane lowers the drive assembly into the center hole of the pallet truck structure. The worker secures the parts together with bolts. Another worker then wires the motor to a controller. He makes other connections to prepare the motor to be coupled to the battery. Now it's time to marry the truck structure to the battery and fork assembly. The worker links the pull rods to the hydraulic lift system using two bell cranks with thick pins. Next a technician attaches metal blocks, leveling the forks to a specific height. Thick cushioning at the back will give the future operator a comfortable surface to stand on. A cover protects the transmission, motor, and the hydraulics. This pallet truck is ready to get to work. An l.e.d. light system guides the operator to place items on the pallet. It both carries the load and tells you how to load. Dumplings are a popular cuisine made by a variety of flavors from around the world. They can be sweet or savory, steamed, boiled, baked, or fried. In chinese cuisine, dumplings have been refined to an art form and are often eaten on special occasions like chinese new year. To make a dumpling, you first wrap a thin layer of dough around a filling. Dumplings can come in many different shapes. These are filled with shrimp and pork. Food-prep technicians at this facility peel, devein, and sort shrimp for different kinds of dumplings. As they work, they double-check each shrimp for freshness and quality. The 30 people working at this station can peel 10,000 shrimp per hour. To make the dumpling dough, technicians begin the process by pouring all-purpose flour into this large mixing bowl. They add water at a ratio of two parts flour to one part water. A large dough hook mixes the two ingredients together. Periodically, the technicians stop the machine to manually test the dough for consistency. It's not ready yet. After more mixing, they test it again. This time, it's just right--  soft and still elastic. To strengthen the dough structure, a worker begins folding and rolling it into lengths. At the next station, food-prep technicians rip small chunks off the rolls. Then they weigh the chunks to ensure they meet the parameter of just 0.28 ounces apiece. Two additional technicians collect the chunks and follow a two-step process in which they stand each piece on its round end before flattening it. They sprinkle the round disks with flour to keep them from sticking to each other when moved to the next station. The next step uses traditional cooking tools to transform each disk into a wrapper for a dumpling known as shao mai. The food-prep technicians wear protective clothing to prevent contamination. In-house quality control inspectors test the airborne bacteria levels in the facility every month to ensure that it meets the necessary standards. Creating the shao mai wrapper requires high levels of skill. This worker's right hand rolls the dough while his left hand rotates the wrapper in perfectly coordinated movements, turning out wafer-thin rounds at high speed. A second worker uses a different style of rolling pin to crimp the edges of the wrapping. The technicians on the left use a wooden spatula to scoop a portion of filling into each wrapper before placing them on a scale to ensure the weight is correct. Technicians on the right top off each dumpling with a shrimp. Inserting the shrimp is another step that requires carefully orchestrated hand movements to accomplish the task with speed and elegance. The worker is able to carefully tuck the shrimp into place with effortless movements of one hand. Dumplings come in all shapes and sizes. At another table, workers assemble a delicacy in the shape of a half-moon. These dumplings start out with the same disk-shaped wrapper and the same shao mai filling. Next, a worker uses a special crimping technique, pinching a series of small creases in the dough to seal them in a completely different way. By carefully arranging each dumpling, technicians can fit nearly 88 of them in one pan. Thanks to an amazing artisanal assembly line of skilled workers, the final product is almost too beautiful to eat. Water faucets date back to at least 1700 bc. Archaeologists discovered that the minoan palace at knossos, on the greek island of crete, had a plumbing system consisting of terra-cotta pipes, providing water to faucets made of gold and silver. Today's water faucets are typically made of cast brass plated with another type of metal. This single-handle faucet is most commonly seen in a bathroom and is chrome-plated. This factory uses steel molds to produce sand molds for casting the brass components. The sand mold is actually a sand model of the brass part, only slightly smaller. Workers file off the excess sand, which hardened inside the channels consuming the entirety of the steel mold cavity. In the casting area, technicians load brass ingots into the furnace, which stands next to an automated casting machine. The furnace heats the solid metal at a temperature of nearly 2,000 degrees fahrenheit, causing the metal to melt. Technicians place the sand mold inside a two-part steel mold. The inner cavity is in the shape of the faucet part, only slightly larger. The molten brass will flow into the gap between the sand mold and the steel mold cavity. The casting machine positions the mold over the furnace and lowers the mold into a tube, which injects molten brass into the cavity. 20 seconds later, the steel mold opens, and technicians extract the castings and set them aside to cool. Then the parts are placed into a shotblasting machine, which removes all the sand. Next, a worker saws off the excess brass that solidified in the channels of the steel mold. This separates two faucet bodies that were cast together. At the next station, a press forces the part into another machine, trimming off seams and jagged edges. Each faucet body is placed on three consecutive computer-guided machines. One machine cuts threads in the spout hole for the screw-in aerator. The other cuts threads in the hole on top for the screw-in cap that retains the cartridge. The third cuts threads in the installation hole on the bottom. A robotic machine polishes the entire surface of the part against three separate sanding belts. The first belt is a course grit-- the second, a medium grit--  the third, a fine grit. This preps the brass for plating. These large automated electroplating tanks coat the parts with two layers of nickel, then a layer of chrome. In the assembly area, engineers press a nylon-and-ceramic disk through the top hole of the faucet body. The disk has brass threads for the screw-in hot and cold water hoses. They attach an anti-leak seal on the bottom and screw the aerator into the threaded spout hold. The aerator separates the water flow into tiny streams mixed with air, reducing the flow, which prevents splashing. They insert a nylon-ceramic cartridge in the top hole, securing it with a retaining cap hidden by a chrome ring. The cartridge is the valve which opens and closes the faucet and mixes the hot and cold water. They thread the screw for installing the faucet on the sink. Then they screw the rubber-and-steel water hoses into the brass threads of the disk. The factory runs every single faucet it produces through a water test. Engineers manipulate the still-exposed cartridge to check all functions-- turn on, hot/cold water mixing, and shut off. If the faucet passes inspection, they attach the handle with a small screw. They hide the screw with a cover, then apply a sticker reminding the consumer to periodically clean the aerator. They package the faucet with a pop-up drain stopper and a p-trap set. The pvc piping retains a small amount of water as a barrier to prevent sewer gases from backing up into the bathroom.