Leather Basketballs Flood Gates Wood Panel Canvases Shoelaces
In the early days of basketball, players used a soccer ball to play the game. In 1894, a special basketball was designed. It was laced and larger, with a circumference that was about 4 inches greater than the soccer ball. For players, the new ball was a game changer. Basketballs have evolved, but one manufacturer still makes them the old-fashioned way. These laced brown leather balls honor the beginnings of the game. To make this traditional basketball, a craftsperson cuts eight panels out of tough american cowhide. These are rough cuts. The shape will now be more precisely defined. He places a sharp steel die on one of the panels. Using a tool known as a clicker press, he applies pressure to drive the die through the leather and punch out the shape, cookie-cutter style. He now cuts strips of nylon to a workable size using a utility knife. The craftsperson then stacks up a dozen of the nylon strips. Using the clicker press and same die, he cuts out patterns. Because nylon is softer than leather, he can punch out many more at once. He places one of the nylon patterns on the underside of a leather one and stitches them together. The nylon backing stabilizes the leather, preventing stretching. He now punches lace holes and notches in the nylon-padded leather panel. Using a template, the craftsperson locates the spot for an air-valve hole and nicks it with a sharp tool. He places a punch on the nick and strikes it with a hammer to cut out the air-valve hole. He clamps a stamp of a company logo in a heated press. As the stamp heats up, he moves it into a downward position and then slides the leather panel under it. He lowers the hot stamp, and it burns the company logo into the leather. Next, with the liner side up, he sews the basketball panels together, two at a time at first. Doing this right takes practice. The craftsperson then trims the polyester thread and then pounds the thick seam flat with a hammer. He sews vinyl reinforcements to the two panels that have lace holes. This will give the laced area of the basketball more structure. The stitching will also frame the lace holes from the leather side to define and accentuate the lacing. He adds another strip of vinyl. This one will protect the inflated bladder inside the basketball. He assembles the panels four at a time. He leaves the section around the lace holes open to provide an entry point for the inflatable bladder. He stitches the two halves together, again working from the inside of the ball. This completes the basketball's outer casing. The next craftsperson places the basketball casing on a steel post and pulls and tugs the casing to turn it right side out. He now inserts the synthetic rubber bladder into the basketball. He manipulates it so that the bladder's air valve lines up with the corresponding hole in the leather. Using needle-nose pliers, he grabs the air valve and pulls it through the hole. The craftsperson then rearranges the inner flap so that it's in a position to protect the bladder from the lacing. He partially inflates the bladder. Using a thick brass needle, he pulls a rawhide strip through the holes to neatly lace up the opening. He then fully pressurizes the basketball, and the pressure from the bladder holds the laces in place. He simply clips the end of the lace and tucks it in. A replica of the original, this leather basketball is ready to bounce back. Floodgates are sliding gates that are engineered to resist rushing floodwaters. When installed at wastewater or water treatment plants they can be used to control the outflow and inflow of water in order to make operations more efficient. That's why floodgates aren't just for emergency situations. Sliding floodgates close to varying degrees to reduce the flow of water or stop it completely. Making these sliding gates starts with a stainless-steel plate. A crane lifts it over to a conveyor in front of a chamber that has a laser cutter inside. The crane releases its suctioning grip, and the conveyor takes it into the chamber. It's dark inside, but the laser doesn't need overhead lighting to do its work. Computer software guides the laser as it cuts out parts for the floodgate frame. It also precisely locates holes for assembly purposes. Workers stack the laser-cut pieces and number them to categorize them for the next operation, called forming. A worker inserts a part in a press brake numerous times to make multiple bends. He shapes this particular piece into the bottom frame of the floodgate. After forming the side frames the same way, a worker evenly spaces reinforcements along the entire length of them. He tack-welds the reinforcements to the frame. Using a carpenter's square, he measures the angle of the reinforcement to the side frame. Satisfied that each reinforcement is perfectly perpendicular to the frame, he does the full welds. Then the worker joins the two side frames and the bottom rail and welds the structure together. He positions a stainless-steel ceiling frame at the midpoint of the structure and welds it in place. Another worker tucks a polyethylene strip into the frame to seal it. The strip also has a groove in it to accommodate the gate's sliding door. He clamps the strip to the frame and then taps it with a hammer to entrench it more firmly into the frame. He drills through holes in the side frame to make corresponding holes in the polyethylene strip and inserts the bolts in the holes. He screws nuts onto the ends that protrude from the outside of the frame. He now inserts a polyethylene strip in the horizontal ceiling frame, and he marks the strip to indicate the location for bolt holes. He removes the strip and drills tapered holes for countersunk bolts in the locations he's marked. He inserts a silicone strip in a recess in the seal, and he bolts it all together. Once the frame is complete, another worker installs the floodgate's sliding door. It will be raised and lowered using crank-operated gears. The next worker closes off an opening used for an unneeded drive gear with silicone glue and a plastic stopper. He slides a washer and bearing on the center shaft opening. He places the upper housing on the bottom one to enclose the gears. He secures the gearbox housing with numerous long bolts. Next, powerful ridged rollers press a thread into a very long stainless steel rod. This rod will serve as the floodgate's operating stem. It's ready for installation. A worker bolts one end of the stem to the slide gate while the other worker threads the gearbox onto the other end. With the crank not yet installed, he uses a drill to spin the gears and test the operation of the sliding floodgate. He confirms that the floodgate meets design specifications. Then workers flood the surface below the floodgate with water and verify that nothing seeps through. This proves that the floodgate is watertight and ready to hold strong in the event of an emergency. Before artists put their brush to their blank canvas, they have to choose what type of canvas to use-- rudimentary, economical cotton or finer, more expensive linen, unstretched, or pre-stretched? If pre-stretched, affixed to a wooden frame or glued to a wooden panel? This type of artist canvas is made of fine-weave linen. It's stretched over and affixed to a wood panel. The hard backing prevents the linen from flexing under the paintbrush. The face of the panel is made of a quarter-inch-thick baltic birch. After cutting a piece with the dimensions of the finished canvas, a worker cuts pieces of sturdier basswood for the cradle. After cutting a long strip in the required width, he measures and marks the lengths of the cradle's five parts, which include four perimeter pieces and a cross brace. Then he cuts the parts. He miters the edges of the perimeter pieces. That means cutting the ends at a 45-degree angle, so the pieces mate when assembled into a rectangle. To assemble the cradle, a worker spreads wood glue on the mitered edges of the perimeter pieces, then joins them to form a rectangle, clamping two of the corners to a 90-degree block to ensure the angles are perfectly square. He reinforces the corner joints with v-shaped nails. He removes the clamps and squares and glues the cross brace across the middle. Once the worker checks that the cross brace is installed squarely, he nails it to the perimeter. He applies a line of wood glue on top of the cradle perimeter and cross brace. Then he places the panel onto the cradle. The worker sets clamps all around the perimeter, then puts the cradle aside overnight to let the glue dry. The next day, the worker sands any panel overhang flat, rendering the edge of the panel flush with the cradle. They burn the manufacturing information into the back of the finished panel. The linen they're using for this canvas is portrait grade, the finest and smoothest weave. It's been primed with linseed oil to allow oil paint to penetrate enough to adhere but not absorb into the fabric. He measures and marks the wood panel's dimensions, adding about 4 inches all around to have extra linen to wrap around the cradle. Then he cuts along the lines. The worker centers the cradled panel upside down on the linen and traces a line around it. He flips the panel right-side up and coats the surface with special ph-neutral archival glue because ordinary adhesives contain acid which degrades the linen over time. He flips the panel upside down again, carefully positions it within the trace lines and presses the panel firmly against the linen. He mounts the assembly on a stretching machine. Canvases must always be stretched to prevent contraction and expansion due to changes in humidity. Starting with the longest sides first, the machine yanks the linen tight and folds it over the edge of the cradle. A line of staples secure the stretched linen to the wood. After stretching and stapling both long sides, the worker folds the corners neatly and staples them as well. Then he rotates the canvas to stretch the short sides. Once those are stretched and stapled, the wood-panel canvas is finished, and now it's the ready recipient of artistic inspiration. The oldest shoe archaeologists have ever found is a 5,500-year-old leather hide moccasin with leather-cord laces. Today we don't have to go hunt an animal to lace our shoes. We can buy our shoelaces ready-made in a variety of materials, styles, lengths and colors. This company produces shoelaces and shoelace-type drawstrings in a wide range of materials, including cotton, rayon and acrylic. This run is producing polyester shoelaces. A worker installs cones of fine polyester thread on what's called a creel, which feeds the bobbin-winding machines. She groups the strands from eight cones and feeds them through one side of one machine and onto a bobbin. Then she groups the strands from another eight cones and feeds them through the other side of the machine onto a second bobbin. Each group of eight strands will produce one thicker polyester thread. She programs the machine to wind a specific length of it. Each cone holds enough fine thread to wind a 71-mile-long thick thread. For this particular shoelace, the machine is programmed to wind 8,200 feet of thick thread per bobbin. Another worker installs 20 of those bobbins on a braiding machine. For each one, she passes the end of the thread through three eyelets, the second of which regulates the tension of the thread. She gathers half the threads and ties knots in them so that they'll catch when she feeds them into the machine. She starts up the braiding machine. It draws in the knotted threads, which pull in the unknotted ones. Then the machine begins braiding a continuous round shoelace cord. These wheels apply tension to pull any loose braids tighter so that the corrected diameter is uniform. The finished cord, which is about a mile long, collects in a barrel. Some shoelaces are made of knitted, rather than braided, cord. The cones of thread feed the knitting machine directly. The machine's four latch needles can perform two types of knitting stitches to produce round cord. Once the knitted, or braided, cord is ready, a worker adjusts four metal pegs of a winding device to the shoelace length they're making. Then she winds the cord around the pegs up to 250 times, depending on the cord diameter. She cuts the end and ties the cords together so that she can easily transfer them to what's called a tipping machine. She runs the center of each cord over an acetone-saturated felt pad, then inserts it in the machine's die. The die wraps a piece of acetate film tightly around the cord, then cuts it in the middle, producing a shoelace with a stiff tip, called an aglet, on each end. This press applies a nickel-plated steel tip, a kind used on bag drawstrings. The worker manually positions two tips directly on the cord with a slight gap in between them. She activates the press to force them on, then cuts the cord in the gap. This factory also makes rickrack, a flat zigzag trim that's sewn onto clothing. These rickrack-braiding machines are 120 years old. Each one holds from 13 to 73 bobbins of thread. The more bobbins used, the wider the rickrack. There are two ways to make multicolored rickrack or braided shoelace cord. Mount different shades of solid color bobbins on the braiding machine or wind multicolored thread on each bobbin. And for multicolored knitted shoelace cord, mount different shades of solid-color thread cones or multicolored thread on each cone. To produce different shapes and sizes, this manufacturer uses different types of braiding and knitting machines, varying the number of bobbins or cones from eight to as many as 73. An even number produces a round shoelace. An odd number produces a flat one. With so many possibilities, shoelaces can be fashionable as well as functional.