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Today on "how it's made"... Fiberglass insulation... Wooden ducks... Gumball machines... And exhaust systems. It's pink and fluffy, and it keeps us warm. Fiberglass insulation is a great way to prevent heat loss from our buildings. It has a woolly texture, but it is, as the name suggests, made of very fine threads of glass. That's why it's sometimes referred to as glass wool. Fiberglass insulation will reduce energy consumption, but it also reduces waste because it's made from at least 35% recycled glass. The recipe also includes what's called the batch-- a lot of sand and smaller portions of soda ash, limestone, and other minerals. The glass, called cullet, used to be bottles and windows. This will be its second recycling. The cullet and batch ingredients spill onto a conveyer-belt system, which transports it all to an electric furnace. The conveyer moves back and forth to evenly distribute the cullet and batch ingredients. They seep down and melt into a previous mix, which is now a pool of glass at the bottom of the furnace. The glass liquid now flows out of the furnace and into sloped channels. Inside these channels, the temperature is kept red-hot by natural-gas burners. This keeps the glass mix in a liquid form, as it oozes out of the holes in the bottoms of the channels. The melted glass falls about 3 feet into a spinning bowl. It's called a fiberizer. The spinning action flings the glass through thousands of holes in the bowl, creating thousands of feathery glass fibers. Gas and compressed air pull the fibers, stretching them thinner. The process is a lot like making cotton candy, and the spun glass even has a similar texture. But the fibers will soon become even more like cotton candy. Nozzles spray them with a polymer glue tinted pink. The now-pink and sticky fibers drop into a hole in the ground and amass. Then a conveyer belt takes the mounds of sticky glass to an oven. Steel plates compress the pack as it enters the oven that's heated to 500 degrees fahrenheit. Hot air blows through it, setting the glue. As the pack exits the oven, circular saws cut through it, making 15- to 24-inch-wide strips that are called lanes. The lanes pass by a series of poles that push them apart. Next, an ink jet brands each lane with a number that conveys the "r" value. "r" stands for "resistance to heat flow". It's a measure of how well the insulation will stop heat from going through the roof and your energy bill along with it. A chopper with big steel teeth now cuts the lanes, making chunks that could easily be installed in an attic or wall. After chopping, the conveyer belt accelerates, transporting the fiberglass batts to the next station. A few at a time, the batts plunge down a chute, to a mechanical arm which slides the batts into a compression chamber. There, a hydraulic ram squishes the batts down, reducing their bulk 5 to 10 times. This compaction will make them easier to transport. Now another ram comes from the side and pushes the stack of compressed batts forward into a spout. The spout is a hollow batt-shaped frame. A worker pulls a plastic bag over it. Then the ram pushes the fiberglass-insulation batt into the plastic bag, and the process begins again. A conveyer belt transports the batt-filled bags to a machine that heat-seals them. Then they're sent off to be installed. For centuries, hunters have used wooden ducks to lure live ones to within shooting range. Stringing together decoys and floating them in the water, hunters trick the birds down from the sky with duck calls. Nowadays, hunters generally prefer cheaper, plastic decoys. Wooden ducks are mostly decorative items for the home. This company's flock includes males, females, and androgynous models like this one. This more elaborate male is inspired by another aquatic bird, the loon. To make them, these craftsmen use eastern white pine because it's easy to carve and has a nice grain. First, a machine shapes a 2-inch-thick slab. They cut the slab lengthwise. They'll use four to six of these smaller pieces to make most of the duck's body. The birds range in size from baby ducks just 4 inches long to geese at more than 19 inches long. A craftsman now applies a generous amount of carpenter's glue to one side of the wood. Using a lot ensures a strong bond and prevents splitting later on. The pieces then go into what's called a wood clamp. He tightens a vice, squeezing them together. It takes about two hours for the pieces to bond properly. Then he'll shave away the excess glue and even up the surfaces. Once that's done, they run the block over what's called a joiner. A roller with 3 blades shaves about 3/4 of an inch from what will become the top and bottom of the duck. Each model has three wooden patterns for the top, the bottom, and the profile. Here, a worker traces the outline of the bird's profile in pencil on the wood. Since this is a small model, he'll make two birds with one block. Using a band saw, he trims along the trace line. This company recycles the cutoffs into fireplace kindling and shavings for farm stables. Next, he uses another pattern to create the top of the bird. These patterns provide only the general shape of a particular model. The craftsman will later carve the details using smaller electric tools and by hand. Now he sands the wood with a pneumatic drum sander-- a tube of pressurized air with sandpaper stretched over it. He uses higher pressure for sharper curves, lower pressure for softer edges. To sculpt the bird's plumage, the craftsman uses this band sander whose rounded edge presses sandpaper into the wood. Here, he makes three long grooves-- one on top, and one on each side of the duck. The head's made from a different piece of wood than the body. Here, he sands down the piece to smooth out the curves. Using various shaping tools and the band sander, he sculpts the bird's head and bill area, then the underside and rear end of this waddling duck. He also carves depressions for eye sockets to come later. Here, he puts glue on the neck to attach it to the rest of the body. Using a nail gun, he reinforces the area with two nails on each side. To hide the nails and smooth out the neck, the craftsman uses wood putty. Once it dries, he'll sand it smooth. Next, he tints the duck bill using an orange wood stain... Then a forest-green stain to tint the head and neck areas. Males have colorful feathers to better attract mates. Females have more neutral colors to blend into their surroundings and protect their ducklings. The craftsman covers the duck's lower body with a clear wood stain. This way, the natural grain of the wood shows through. The front gets a clear but darker stain to mark the chest. And darker stain also highlights the plumage in the long grooves. Then, some green accents for the feathers on the sides in the back. Next, two coats of white paint to mark the duck's collar. Then he glues plastic eyes in the eye sockets. The irises are black, brown, or red, depending on the model. He then sprays on a protective, water-based varnish, and elevates the duck on nails so that the underside will dry along with the rest. Finally, the craftsman rubs the entire carving in wood wax. This makes the varnish appear uneven in places, giving the duck a worn, antique finish, like he's been around the pond a few times. The prices of wooden ducks vary according to size and detail. $500 will buy you this magnificent canada goose with wings stretched and ready for a graceful landing. For a century, there have been machines to give us gumballs. Vending machines that dispensed gumballs were introduced in 1907 on a new york city subway platform. Today's machines are more modern versions of the originals, but they still perform, basically, the same function. The gumball machine is all about instant gratification. Insert a coin, turn a handle, and out comes the merchandise. To make a gumball machine, a designer first sketches out the exact proportions. Then, a worker ladles molten zinc into a holding furnace, where a steel plunger pushes the metal through a die that forms a gumball machine base. A mechanical claw removes the newly shaped base from the die and places it on a conveyor belt to cool. A similar die shapes the coin mechanism handle and drive gears. A worker places a braided hose with a natural-gas flame under a mold that will shape the gumball-dispensing chute. He pours piping-hot liquid aluminum into the mold. The flame below warms the mold enough to prevent condensation, which would ruin the shape. But the mold is still cooler than the aluminum, and that allows it to solidify into a chute shape in seconds. Now, using a punch press, a worker trims the waste away from the lid for the gumball machine. They also trim the front plate of the coin mechanism, using a similar press. A computerized cutter mills out a hole in the top of the globe that will hold the gumballs. The globe is made of shatterproof plastic. At another station, they press the base of the gumball machine against a cloth-covered buffing wheel to give it a shine. A worker now assembles the coin mechanism, layering the front plate, the coin carrier, the back plate, and ending with a cam, the part that ensures the coin mechanism moves clockwise. She screws it tightly together, then inserts the handle on the front plate. The handle will turn the coins that pay for the gumballs. She places a little spacer and drive gear on the handle stem that protrudes through the back of the assembly and then screws the drive gear onto the handle stem. Now it's time to put the money up front. They insert a coin in the slot and turn the handle to make sure the system works. People in many countries like gumballs, and so these coin mechanisms can be made to accept currencies from around the world. They can also be used in other types of vending machines. Now they spray powder paint onto the lids, giving them a coating that's almost 1/16 of an inch thick. They bake the paint onto the lids at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 25 minutes. Now it's time to put all the pieces together. They place the dispensing wheels in hoppers, then cover them with a part that stops free gumballs from spilling out. The next part is the adaptor ring, and the plastic globes fit on top of them. They place aluminum rings on top of the globes. Then they slide two side rods through the top rings, down into the bottom of the globes. They screw them down very tightly, and then they set the assembly aside. Now they place plastic bodies on bases and install the chute doors on the front. They place the chute covers in the plastic body... And mount the coin mechanism just above the chute. Next, they slide the globe assemblies over center rods and onto the plastic foundations. They put a lid on every globe... And then lock them on. And now we're at the vending part of the story. Gumball, anyone? The job it does is exhausting. The exhaust system on your vehicle gets rid of harmful gases that could damage the engine. It also cleans up the gases a bit before venting them into the air. A properly functioning exhaust system does another big job-- muffling the airborne noise of the engine. It's a system of metal tubes and plates we only seem to notice when it breaks down. And when it does, everyone can hear it. To make an exhaust system, a mechanical puller draws a stainless-steel strip up into a punch press, shuffling it back and forth to allow for a precise cut with little waste. The press brings 60 tons of force to bear as it pushes the steel into a die. It punches out a baffle shape with holes in it, which will form the skeleton for the muffler box. The finished baffles fall onto a conveyor and go into a storage cage. Now a long steel tube tumbles to automated blades which score the tube crosswise to prevent denting and then cut it to produce smaller tubes that go inside a muffler. A circular saw descends on another tube to make a tail pipe. Its length depends on the type of muffler being made. A louver machine spins and punctures one of the inside tubes. The holes will regulate airflow in the muffler. A cnc bending machine grips and bends a pipe in several spots. This is how they make inlet, intermediate, and outlet tubes. These tubes run the length of the exhaust system. Then they place a tube in a circular hydraulic vice, which pinches the end down to a prescribed diameter to allow for further assembly. A worker now places two baffles in a jig. He fits the tubes through the holes in the baffles so that the tubes connect the baffles. Three mandrels slide into the tubes. The mandrels expand, locking the tubes to the baffles. Then they contract and slide out. Now the baffles and tubes are one piece. Next, a robotic arm picks up metal sheets, which will become the outer skin of the muffler box. It pushes them under an oval mold. Another arm with numerous rollers on it moves up and wraps the steel around the oval form. Then a metal block moves over the ends, double-folding them. This locks them together, and it completes the assembly of the muffler's outside skin. Magnets pick up the new skin, and, sliding on rails, they relay it to a mechanical claw which, in turn, feeds it to a flanger. The flanger bends the edges, creating a lip on either end of the muffler skin. A carousel turns, and a mechanical claw transfers the newly flanged muffler skin to the stuffing position. Hydraulic pushers press the pre-assembled baffles and tubes inside the skin. After the muffler is stuffed, the robotic claw transfers it to a conveyor belt. Next, a worker presses each end of the muffler against a set of steel expansion fingers. The fingers move forward into holes in the muffler. They expand and lock the baffles and tubes inside to form one solid, internal unit. Grippers place the muffler on a spinning machine that will fasten the caps on. Rollers press against the flared edges of the revolving muffler, tightly locking the end cap to the rest of the body. Here, you see the rolling in slow motion. It takes only a few revolutions to do the job. Then the roller backs away, and a mechanical arm grabs the muffler and transfers it to a conveyor belt. Now these mufflers are ready to help keep the traffic noise at a minimum.