Fishing Line Industrial Mixers Natural Baking Soda Tow Trucks
Today on "how it's made"... Early fishing lines were made of vines and braided horsehair. But today, fishermen rely on braided synthetics to reel in their catch. With a higher tensile strength than steel, these lines are unlikely to snap when they hook the big one. This fishing line may be thin, but that doesn't mean it's not strong. It's made of a synthetic called ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. This same synthetic is used in milk jugs, water pipes, and even bulletproof vests. To make these fishing lines, numerous microfibers are braided into a single, tight cord. An employee starts by threading fibers through needles. She pulls the needles through spring-loaded devices. The devices keep the fibers at an even tension as they unwind onto small bobbins. These bobbins are designed to fit in the braiding machines. The machines are called maypole braiders because the spools spin like dancers around a maypole. As they spin, they weave the strands into a tight braid. There are 4,500 braiding machines in operation at this factory. Producing a tight braid is slow work. It takes about 10 days to braid a 7,500-foot section of fishing line. Big spools overhead slowly revolve to take up the braided polyethylene line. At the same time, a worker fills a metal tank with hot water... And adds yellow dye to it. A pump at the bottom of the tank keeps the water moving to evenly distribute the dye. He stirs it a bit while he inspects the mixing job. They heat and pressurize the dye in a tank filled with fishing line. The dye penetrates all of the strands for an even dye job. These fishing lines go through a different process. They unwind through metal eyelets into a tray of yellow silicone resin. This proprietary resin makes the line abrasion-resistant. It will be less likely to break if dragged across a surface like a rock. Next, the line travels through an oven to cure the resin. It travels over a series of tensioning rollers as it exits. Then, the line goes through an abrasive eyelet, which removes external contaminants. Finally, it's rolled up by a spool. Now it's over to a test station. A technician clamps a piece of fishing line in a testing apparatus. It pulls the fishing line from both ends until it breaks. A gauge measures the line's breaking point. It snaps at 118 pounds of pressure, exceeding requirements. With the test piece of fishing line approved, an automated system now transfers the line to retail-sized spools. It loads about 450 feet of line onto each one. A worker applies a label with product details and packages it in a cardboard box. It takes about 17 days to braid, color, and process a single spool of synthetic fishing line. Strong but very thin, it can be cast and reeled in with ease. If the fish take the bait, they may not be able to get away. The applications for industrial-grade mixers are limitless. From construction and recycling to food processing and medical supplies, mixers chop, crush, and blend any combination of dry and wet materials into a variety of products or compounds. This mixer consists of a bin called a u-trough and an agitator. It's controlled by an interface module with simple start and stop buttons. The agitator shaft is the main component. Its arms and paddles turn at a speed of 10 to 50 rotations per minute. A discharge valve underneath the u-trough controls the unloading of the mixture. First, a hydraulic 40-ton press roll-forms a carbon steel sheet. The sheet rolls back and forth under the press until it takes a "u" shape. An overhead crane brings the sheet over to the end plate for welding. A worker spot-welds the sheet to the end plate. Then, he makes a continuous weld on the end plate along the inside and outside of the sheet. A high-definition plasma cutter burns paddle shapes into a stainless-steel plate. The extreme heat of the plasma cuts right through the steel, making very precise lines and angles. Then, the paddles go to a forming press. The 150-ton press pushes the plate down on a die. Steel is a formable metal, so it can bend without cracking or breaking. A slight curvature in the paddles will maximize the lifting and scooping effect of the agitator. A machinist turns the agitator main shaft. It takes a very hard and resistant material to machine such a massive steel shaft. This tungsten carbide insert can resist high temperatures and maintain a sharp cutting edge. The machinist measures the diameter. He cuts a groove into the end of the shaft using a stagger-tooth side-mill cutter. This groove, called a keyseat, is designed to lock the agitator to the mixer's drive gearbox. Machining of the agitator requires extreme precision. The shaft must fit into the drive gearbox and match its drive key slot. A worker assembles arms and paddles to an agitator shaft mounted inside a u-trough. He bolts the arms onto the shaft. He tightens the nuts with a pneumatic torque driver and assembles paddles to the arms. Both the paddles and arms are angled. Machine slots in the paddles allow clearance adjustment. Next, a worker rotates the assembled shaft and arms to check the clearance between the paddles and u-trough walls. A welder creates a solid stainless-steel agitator shaft for a larger mixer. He welds the base of the arms to the shaft and grinds down the welding profile to obtain a uniform shape. Welded agitators are often used in food processing because they make cleaning easier. Now, workers attach an electric motor to the mixer. They mount the drive assembly on the agitator shaft. A taper bushing centers the drive gearbox on the shaft. Fasteners secure the bushing in place, locking the agitator shaft into the drive. A worker installs a safety grate on top of the mixer and closes the covers. Then, he installs air-pressure regulators. These supply air to the main shaft seals. Air purge seals prevent product loss or contamination. Air lines connect the pressure regulators to both ends of the main shaft agitator. The mixer fits on a support frame for easy access to the discharge valve. It's equipped with clamps, safety latches, and a control panel, which includes an emergency stop button. Baking soda is a white crystalline powder. When added to dough, it reacts with the acidic ingredients to form bubbles, giving cakes and cookies a light and fluffy structure. It's also used in livestock feed, fire extinguishers, and detergents. Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate. It can be produced through a chemical process, or it can be mined from the ground. Large mineral deposits exist in northwest colorado, left behind as lakes evaporated millions of years ago. Mine operators dissolve the sodium bicarbonate underground using hot brine. The brine is a mix of the minerals and water left over from prior processing. They pipe the higher-concentration brine to a processing facility about a mile away. The brine collects in a holding tank outside and flows through pipes into the facility as needed. Inside, a technician tests the liquid and confirms that the level of sodium bicarbonate is adequate. Then, the brine flows through several tanks, where heat exchangers gradually cool it. This causes the sodium-bicarbonate brine to crystallize, making the granules larger and heavier. The crystals sink to the bottom of the last tank. This forms a mixture of brine and crystals. They pump this mixture into a device called a hydroclone. The hydroclone spins out the brine through the center. The crystals gravitate to the sides and sink to the bottom. This creates a sodium-bicarbonate slurry. It has a meringue-like consistency. The slurry is about 40% sodium bicarbonate at this point. A lot of water has been removed, but there's still work to be done. As the dewatering continues, the system recaptures spent liquid and pipes it back into the mine to dissolve more minerals. The slurry goes for another spin, this time in a centrifuge. It wrings out more water, transforming the slurry into something called wet cake. Wet cake is 95% sodium bicarbonate. Next, the wet cake travels to a mixer that blends dry sodium bicarbonate powder into it. The dry powder brings the moisture content down to 3%. Next, the wet cake makes a quick trip through this dryer to remove the remaining moisture, leaving pure baking soda. The baking soda now shakes through three tiers of vibrating screens. The crystals are sorted by size, producing several different grades. From brine to powder, it's been quite a journey. It's time to determine how this naturally mined baking soda measures up. A technician dissolves some of the baking soda in water. He adds an acid to neutralize the sodium bicarbonate. This allows him to measure its purity. He also places the different grades of baking soda in a screening device. It vibrates to shake the granules through perforations, verifying that the crystals have been correctly graded by size. With the lab's approval, this baking soda is ready for the marketplace. A robotic arm picks up the bag and transfers it to a fill station with a scale below. The scale signals when there's 55 pounds of baking soda in a bag, prompting the fill nozzle to shut off. These 55-pound bags will be sold to commercial bakeries and companies that use large amounts of baking soda daily. It will no doubt rise to the occasion. When an 18-wheeler has an accident or construction equipment breaks down, you need to call in the big guns to haul it away for repair. Large tow trucks are equipped with specialized tools to recover and transport massive vehicles. This tow truck can haul a vehicle as large as a semitruck. The towing apparatus is called the underlift. This is one of four outriggers. These legs stabilize the tow truck when the using the recovery boom. This extendible boom is equipped with dual-wire ropes and hooks to retrieve a vehicle that's gone off the road. These hydraulically powered towing and recovery machines are made up of 2,500 parts cut from steel sheets. The parts are cut by one of two types of computer-guided machines-- a high-pressure water-jet cutter, as we're seeing here, or a laser cutter. Workers position the parts in an assembly fixture... Then tack-weld them together. Tack welding is an initial welding in select spots, just to hold the parts together until a robot does the final welding. Next, workers sandblast the welded component. This preps the surface for painting. They apply one coat of epoxy primer... Then one coat of polyurethane automotive paint. The paint dries in about two hours and fully cures in about two days. Workers hook up all of the hydraulically powered components to this testing machine. If everything functions properly, workers connect permanent hydraulic lines. To assemble the recovery boom, they install hydraulic cylinders that will move it up and down, a winch that winds and unwinds the thick wire ropes, and an enormous ring gear that enables the boom to rotate 360 degrees. Then, they attach the extendible boom. It's secured with massive steel pins. Workers also attach he underlift at the back and the four stabilizing outriggers underneath. This completes the towing and recovery unit. Now they attach it to a prebuilt truck. Steel mounting plates are bolted to the truck's frame. The towing-and-recovery unit is then welded to those plates. Workers bolt aluminum tool cabinets to the side of the truck's frame. Inside the cabinet, they make the wiring connections for the emergency lights and other electrical components. They install the electronic control panel that the driver uses to operate everything. The control panel monitors oil temperature, hydraulic pressure, and other important indicators. They also install a set of control handles to give the driver the option of manual operation. Once everything is hooked up, they perform a quality control inspection. This factory makes several models, ranging from a light-duty tow truck... To one like this, designed to haul the heaviest trucks and machinery.