Padlocks Hair Clippers Wooden Shoes Synthetic Leather
Today on "how it's made"... Padlocks... Hair clippers... Wooden shoes... Wooden shoes... And synthetic leather. And synthetic leather. As long as there have been thieves, there's been a need for locks. Padlocks date back to roman times and were likely first used to protect cargo in transit. Thousands of years later, the padlock continues to keep burglars at bay. The modern padlock's strongest feature is its lock body. The process begins with a stack of 24 steel plates that are laminated together, the same technology that's used to make doors for bank vaults. A punch press cuts and shapes pieces of steel into caps that will be riveted to the lock bodies. The rivets tumble down a feeder. While below, an operator places a lock body and a cap into a fixture. A powerful press then drives the rivets into the assembly, securing the top cap to the lock securing the top cap to the lock body. Body. At another station, cutters contour steel rods so they'll fit into the lock body's holes while lubricant keeps things while lubricant keeps things cool. Cool. The finished rods are now ready to be shaped. Workers load them into a form press. This machine bends the steel as easily as you could bend a pipe cleaner to make a u-shaped shackle. Then the shackles roll into a furnace for tempering, a process that makes the steel even stronger. After a little more machining, the shackle is ready to be installed. This shackle will need to move up and down as the lock is opened and closed. And that's where these ball bearings come in. Two of them are slipped into the lock cavity. Lubricant gel aids the process. Workers use it to grease the inside of the lock while they push the ball bearings to either side of the cavity. A cylinder extension is inserted between the ball bearings, then a protective casing and bumper slide over the lock. Now it's time for final assembly. A machine loads copper-plated shells onto mandrels. Plugs, pins and springs funnel into the lock assembly station. A device installs pins and springs in a lock shell. The shell slides onto a brass plug. A key-shaped groove is cut into the plug, transforming it into a lock cylinder. A carbide cutter notches the matching keys. There are tens of thousands of key profiles. This sorting station holds just a few. The keys and lock cylinders are all numbered. This worker matches them up, making sure there are two keys making sure there are two keys for each lock. For each lock. She selects a padlock and pushes one of the lock cylinders into it. Then she tops it off with a retention plate. A machine press fits the plate to the bottom of the padlock. This secures the lock cylinder. A spring for the shackle is inserted, and the bottom cap goes on next. Then the entire assembly is riveted together. Each key is tested to make sure it matches. A computerized system opens and closes a randomly selected padlock thousands of times to make sure it's up to the job. The lock also has to hold up to force. Weights are dropped to replicate a hammer blow. And the padlock withstands the strike. This day's work is done. It's time for the folks at the factory to "lock up" for the day. Up next, making the cut at a up next, making the cut at a hair-clipper factory. Hair-clipper factory. The electric hair clipper was invented in 1919. It was the first clipper with a motor in the actual unit, allowing the barber to cut hair allowing the barber to cut hair at quite a clip. At quite a clip. Hairstyles may change, but this device is still on the cutting edge. These days, hair-clipper casings are made out of heavy-duty plastic. An automated mold melts and shapes the plastic material into shapes the plastic material into casing parts. Casing parts. Meanwhile, a robot picks up brass contacts and places them in fixtures. A plastic switch is then attached to each contact. A blast of air sends the assembled piece to a bin. Here, a robot slides a plastic spool onto a mandrel, then anchors copper wire to it. The wire is wound around the spool more than 2,000 times to make part of the electric relay that will drive the blades. Police keep the wire fed at an police keep the wire fed at an even tension. Even tension. Next, robots work on the clipper's lower casing. One installs a blade slide for adjusting the blade, and another attaches the lever that controls attaches the lever that controls that slide. That slide. An automated screwdriver fastens everything together. The clipper assembly is then on its way to have a metal arm installed. This piece will move the cutting blade. And for that, it will need a couple of springs. Next, the switch assembly goes in. And then the arm is screwed into place. Workers install a screw for adjusting the power setting. And now they fit the copper wire coil into the lower housing where it will drive that metal where it will drive that metal arm. Arm. A power cord is run from the switch to the coil. And now the clipper's inner workings are complete. Over at another station, a punch press stamps out clipper blades. The blades are toothless to start. But after a good washing and heat treatment, they head over to another station to get some to another station to get some teeth. Teeth. A worker pops a blade into a fixture to hold it steady, then a jagged cylindrical cutter carves the teeth. Coolant keeps the process from overheating and compromising the overheating and compromising the integrity of the steel. Integrity of the steel. Each hair clipper has two blades. The first one has cutting teeth which moves over the second, a larger, stationary blade that ensnares the hairs so that they can be cut. Next, the company's logo is printed on to the clipper's lid. And the lid is attached to the casing that holds the electrical components. Workers mount the blades on the head of the clipper for that double-edged cutting action. And finally, each clipper is tuned for optimum performance by adjusting that power screw that was installed earlier. These clippers come in a kit that includes some additional accessories for those consumers who want to try their hand at a little home grooming. Now these electric hair clippers are ready to get buzzing. With those sharp blades, they'll make short work of any "hairy" make short work of any "hairy" situation. Situation. Coming up, the art of the wooden coming up, the art of the wooden shoe. Shoe. Call them the poor man's answer to the rubber boot. Centuries ago, farmers chipped out holes in wooden blocks to keep their feet dry. Over the years, the blocks were refined into inexpensive but durable footwear. Today they're most commonly associated with the history and tradition of the netherlands. How they're made remains as basic as the shoe itself. Most wooden shoes are crafted from poplar, a wood that's easy to carve and generally free of knots, so the wearer won't knots, so the wearer won't encounter any splinters. Encounter any splinters. A worker feeds pieces of poplar into a band saw, careful to toss any pieces with defects. The blade slices the wood into blocks called blanks. The factory uses vinyl patterns like this one to create the shape of the shoe. There's a pattern for each size of every clog style. A worker locks the pattern into a duplication machine called the shaper, then right next to it, shaper, then right next to it, two blanks. Two blanks. As this tracer moves over the shape of the pattern, the wheel on the left copies its movements exactly, its blade shaving the exactly, its blade shaving the wood as it moves up and down. Wood as it moves up and down. There's only one pattern loaded, yet the machine carves out a pair of shoes. That's because the wheel on the far left spins in the opposite direction. So as the blade saws away, it's creating two mirror image copies. That allows the machine to carve out both a right and a left shoe out both a right and a left shoe simultaneously. Simultaneously. Now for the instep. A worker positions the blanks on to what's called a dual-action boring machine. The center rod is called a tasker. Its rolling head follows the curves inside the pattern. Spoon bits on either side of it copy the tasker's movements, gradually carving out the inside of the shoes. Now workers shift the angle so the spoon bits can get in deeper, boring all the way to deeper, boring all the way to the front of the shoe. The front of the shoe. All that carving makes for a lot of wood chips. After a drying period, the toe knobs are cut off with a band saw, and the clogs are inspected saw, and the clogs are inspected for any flaws. For any flaws. A disk sander grinds down the knob on the heel and refines the shape of the toe. The shoemaker uses a barrel sander to smooth out the opening then they switch to a balloon sander. This sander has an air-filled sack inside it that flexes to the shape of the shoe. Now for the final step. An artist lays carbon paper on the shoe and a pattern on top of that. Then she traces the pattern. The carbon sheet transfers the the carbon sheet transfers the design to the wood. Design to the wood. Now she goes over the design with a woodburner. She changes tips and varies the temperature according to the size and depth of the lines she's burning. This design commemorates holland-- holland, michigan, that is. The artist now uses water-based paints to enhance the scene with paints to enhance the scene with color. Color. She applies three coats of a water-based varnish to preserve the artwork and help keep the the artwork and help keep the shoes clean. Shoes clean. While most clog-wearing farmers opt for a plainer version, true clogaholics appreciate a little pizzazz. But they'll leave crafting the clogs to the experts, because they've got some pretty big shoes to fill. When we return, the know-how when we return, the know-how behind faux cow. Behind faux cow. Is it leather or is it pleather? It's not always easy to spot the fake. Synthetic leather, or pleather, can look and feel very much like real cowhide. It may not be the genuine article, but today, plenty of good-looking products are made good-looking products are made from this popular material. From this popular material. The recipe for synthetic leather begins with a petroleum-based plasterizer dumped into a mixing tub. An ultraviolet-light stabilizer is added to provide protection from the sun's rays. And then a flame-retardant solution for a little fireproofing. Powdered vinyl is added until the mix reaches the consistency the mix reaches the consistency of pancake batter. Of pancake batter. Next, different dyes are poured into another tub, following a formula for a specific shade. The liquid-vinyl mix is then piped into the tub with the piped into the tub with the coloring agents. Coloring agents. Now a big roll of paper with a leather-like texture unwinds into the coating machine. As tinted liquid vinyl flows into the machine, a mixing arm agitates it, and rollers below apply it to the paper. The vinyl-coated paper then travels through an oven. The vinyl hardens, taking on the paper's texture. This first layer is a thin one to establish the surface grain. A second batch of vinyl will contain a thickening agent. That's why they call it "the foam". It will give the fabric shape it will give the fabric shape and structure. And structure. Workers pour this second vinyl concoction into the coating machine, which rolls it on top of the first layer. The double-layered vinyl then travels through another oven. The heat activates the thickening agent causing the second layer to expand. Once the expanded vinyl is hardened, it gets a fabric backing. A machine then peels away the paper to reveal the textured first layer. Sometimes a pattern is printed onto the vinyl to make it look burnished or two-toned. Then workers mix a solution to build up the material's durability. Rollers apply it to the synthetic leather, finishing off this production run. But this pleather isn't quite ready to be shipped out. Samples from every run undergo a battery of tests. This machine rubs the fabric up to three million times to see how it wears. Then there's a stretch test. A weight is fastened to a strip of synthetic leather. The weight pulls the swatch to double its length, but it doesn't tear, which means this fabric has a lot of give. Next, a trial by fire. To pass this test, the fabric must self-extinguish in two seconds. And it does... Thanks to the flame retardant thanks to the flame retardant that went into production. That went into production. Next, a cutting is placed in a framework... And heated in an oven to and heated in an oven to increase its pliability. Increase its pliability. A vacuum mold sucks the fabric to its form, proving this sample also has some thermoplastic qualities. You can't do this with real leather. With so many prints, textures and colors now in production, this product seems to have everything "covered".