Recycled Skateboard Guitars Solar Street Lights Dolls
With flips and jumps part of the sport, active skateboarders damage their decks beyond repair every few months. But instead of tossing the ruined skateboards into landfills, their being reclaimed for a different kind of trick-- a transformation into electric guitars. From skateboards to fretboards, it may seem quite a leap, but making electric guitars out of old skateboards is not such a wild idea. Skateboards are often made of multiple layers of rock maple, which is a traditional toned wood for guitars. A guitar maker evaluates the condition and color of the boards. And once he's made his selections, he aims a heat gun at the grip tape on top to soften it. He pries the edges of the softened tape away from the board using a razor. He grabs the tape and pulls it off the skateboard. He can now get a better look at the damage done to the board, and he decides it can be salvaged. He sands off the adhesive and the graphics. The sanding doesn't remove the turquoise color. The dye has penetrated the wood and is part of its intrinsic appeal. He cuts off the nose and the tail of the board and discards them. He'll just be using the wheel bases. The next step is to laminate five of the skateboards together. He applies a liberal coat of glue, spreading it with a putty knife for complete coverage. He adds the final board to the glued stack and places the stack in a hydraulic clamp. To protect the surface of the skateboards, he sets a wooden board on top. The clamp squeezes the skateboard sandwiched together as the glue sets. A day later, he removes the now laminated skateboards. A blade shaves the surface of the stack smooth and brings out the grain. He trims the edges of the stack so that they're more even. He applies glue in a zig-zag pattern to one of the side edges and spreads it across the entire edge. He joins another skateboard stack to this one and clamps the two together. Fused together, they form a block that's large enough to be crafted into an electric guitar body. With a pencil, he traces around the template of a guitar shape to transfer the outline to the laminated skateboards. Using a bandsaw, he cuts out the shape. The skateboard colors form a random pattern within the guitar shape. He places the template on the guitar body once again and secures it with double-sided tape. With a router, he fines the profile, giving the guitar smoother lines. Using a different pattern as a guide, he routes and drills cavities to accommodate the guitar's neck, electronics, and bridge. He removes the template and inspects his work. He sands the edges of the cavity smooth. Then he drills several holes in the back of the guitar for attaching the neck later. With the guitar body held steady in a clamp, he bores a hole for the input jack. After crafting the neck of the guitar from reclaimed skateboards, he files it aggressively to shape it to the desired profile. He then sands the entire neck. The body undergoes an extensive sanding, too, and then he coats it with clear gloss. This is the first of seven to eight coats with a sanding in between each one. With curing time, this lacquering process takes three weeks. After wet sanding and buffing, the guitar body and neck have a mirror finish. The guitar maker nestles the neck in the hollow space at the front of the body and screws it in place from the back of the guitar. This recycled skateboard guitar can now be assembled and wired and is set up to rock. It takes a month to transform some battered, old skateboards into a sleek electric guitar. Trading the half-pipe for the stage, these skateboards are no longer hasbeens. Solar street lights are a 21st century innovation. Powered by the sun's rays, they take the concept of renewable energy to the streets. There's no need to tap into the grid. These lights are standalone systems, so even if there's an electrical power outage, these street lights will stay on. Solar street lights take energy from the sun during the day, store it, and then use it to shine brightly at night. So even when the sun sets, they still provide light. Manufacturing begins with the assembly of an led circuit board. The technician places the optics or lenses, onto the aluminum board and adds a silicone-foam gasket for water proofing. She secures the assembly with a stainless-steel plate. This completes the solar street light's led board. The next worker assembles the led board to the base of an aluminum heat sink. It will disperse excess heat from the led board. He uses several screws to secure the led board to the heat sink. He installs the driver, which will provide power to the led board. Once in place, he connects the led driver to the input power lead. He now builds the decorative housing. He screws aluminum tiers together. He applies adhesive to the upper inner rim. He inserts an optically clear polycarbonate lens, and the flange adheres to the adhesive-coated rim. He screws the led heat sink assembly to an aluminum lid. He now applies a special adhesive to the outside rim of the light fixture housing. He presses foam tubing onto the area. Once compressed by the lid, it will provide a water-tight seal. With everything in an upside down position, he lowers the assembly over the led heat sink and screws it to the lid. A technician plugs the fixture into an electrical testing unit. He confirms that all the leds are illuminating and that there are no electrical issues. The manufacturers then transfer the light fixture to a solar light factory. Upon arrival here, a technician does more testing to verify that its function hasn't been compromised along the way. The team is now ready to add the solar power system to the led street light. A technician programs the solar charge and load controller. Another team member places the battery that will hold the solar charge into a vented cabinet. He connects the battery to a side clip and ground wire. He tucks insulating foam to the sides and connects a load fuse to the battery wiring. He plugs the controller into the battery. In addition to regulating the battery charge and energy load, it's also a timer for the light's operation. Next up is the solar array. It's a group of photovoltaic panels or solar cells. The technician sets the solar array front-side down on the workbench. He threads cable through an aluminum back panel. This cable will serve as a ground wire. He pushes a pop rivet through a hole beside the cable and slides the eyelid on the end of the cable over it. He then pulls the pin through the rivet. He threads wires from the panel junction box and into the opening beside the ground cable. He tucks them into a flexible cable at the back. He rivets the aluminum back plate to the solar panel array. He pulls the wires from the junction box through holes in a cover. He solders electrical pins to the ends of the wires and plugs them into a single connector. With the junction box cover installed, the solar street light system is ready for final testing. The team assembles the street light to a pole in the factory, they connect everything, and stuff the wires into the pole's cavity. They screw the led light fixture to the bracket on the pole, and it's ready to shine. The street lamp controller senses when it's dark and automatically illuminates. It will also a detect a well-lit environment and switch the light off. Now, that's street smarts. The doll just may be the earliest recorded toy. There's archaeological evidence that in ancient greece, rome, and egypt, people made dolls from available materials, such as clay, wood, bone, and leather. But doll manufacturing began in germany in the 1400s. This french company has been hand-crafting dolls since 1860. The materials have changed over the years, but the doll making techniques have essentially remained the same. The body parts are still cast in traditional copper molds. The factory makes one line of dolls out of tinted vinyl. This pinkish color is for caucasian dolls. However, the factory also makes black and mediterranean dolls. Each tray holds the six molds required for a single doll-- head, torso, arms, and legs. The worker sets the machine to fill each one with a specific quantity of vinyl. He closes each mold with a twist cap. He tightens each cap with pliers to prevent leaks. Then he places the molds in an oven at 410 degrees fahrenheit. Throughout baking, the oven rotates the molds in two directions to ensure the vinyl spreads evenly inside the mold cavity. He removes the molds from the oven seven minutes later... Then submerges them in water for precisely 23 seconds. This stops the baking and solidifies the vinyl. The worker uses pliers to remove the caps... Then switches to a pair of needlenose pliers to grab each cast-vinyl limb and yank it out of the mold. To remove the head, he pierces a hole to release trapped air, then, with a stick, compresses the head just enough to pry it out. The vinyl is still flexible. As it cools, it will become more rigid, yet still soft enough to stamp out eye sockets and implant strands of synthetic hair. This factory makes another line of dolls out of colorless polyethylene granules mixed with ground-tinted polyethylene left over from the molding process. The molding machine melts the granules and simultaneously extrudes and inflates the liquid poly into a balloon, which the mold shapes into a specific part. This mold makes the torso. Workers simply switch the mold onto the machine to produce a different part. A worker snaps off the excess polyethylene. These are the leftovers which get ground up and combined with new, colorless granules. As the polyethylene cools, it hardens. That's why these dolls have molded hair and eyes, which are later painted. Each part comes out of the mold with a glossy finish and is seamed where the two halves of the mold met. A worker buffs the part against a felt wheel rotating at high speed to wear down the seam. But this discolors that area in the process. To make this surface finish uniform, the parts tumble in a rotating drum filled with sand for about seven minutes. The sand rubs against the surface of the part, removing the shine and discoloration. When the part comes out of the sanding drum, its uniform surface is seamless, smooth, and matte. Back to the vinyl dolls now, it's time to address that bald scalp. This factory uses hair-stitching machines from the 1950s. Before that time, hair was glued to the head. The hair is nylon and comes in a range of shades. This machine's thick needle repeatedly pierces the vinyl, stitching on the strands as the seamstress moves the doll's head in concentric circles. Once the head is completely covered, she parts the hair, then stitches on more in the middle to add thickness and height. In addition to soft vinyl dolls and hard polyethylene dolls, the factory also makes combination dolls that have soft heads, with hair on hard bodies. But all types of dolls become more lifelike as this process continues. Dolls are recognized as an important contributor to the development of healthy children. Dolls give kids children of their own to care for, a chance to emulate their parents and engage their imaginations as they feed, dress, and cuddle their dolls and lullaby them to sleep. These vinyl dolls have what are known as sleeping eyes. When the doll lies down, its eyes close. Before installing the eyes, workers warm the head with a heat lamp. This makes the vinyl flexible enough for the press to lodge the eye into the socket with a shot of compressed air. The eyes are made of metal and plastic. Once installed, they often require a slight adjustment so the doll isn't cross-eyed. For safety, molded pockets inside the head hold the eyes securely in place so that children can't pull them off. These vinyl dolls have painted hair. The painter applies the hair and facial colors with an air brush. There's a different stencil for each model. This one has light-brown hair and eyebrows, a pale pink mouth, and rosy pink cheeks. All the paint is non-toxic. Polyethylene dolls get some extra pampering with a manicure and a pedicure. The assembler takes a thick length of elastic, ties a large knot at one end, then with a tool, pokes the knot into a hole in one of the legs. She threads the other end of the elastic through holes in the torso and pulls until the leg and torso are connected. Then she knots the other end of elastic and pokes that knot into the hole of the other leg. She repeats the process at the top of the torso, connecting the first arm, the head, and the second arm with the same elastic. This traditional assembly method makes the dolls limbs and head moveable. Workers here have been assembling dolls this way since 1860. This is the last of what were once many factories in france handcrafting dolls. Traditional operations are fewer and fewer worldwide, as most dolls today are mass produced in asia. The assembler makes sure that the limbs and head move properly before sending the doll to the next department. Meanwhile, other departments are producing a range of outfits and accessories. Before dressing and packaging a polyethylene doll, the worker has to wipe it down, as buffing down the seams left a layer of plastic dust. This doll comes in a ballerina outfit, white tights, pink leg warmers, pink ballet shoes with flowers and ribbons, of course... And a pink tutu. Although there are no hard and fast rules, doll collectors usually prefer the hard polyethylene dolls, while the softer, vinyl dolls are designed for children. After putting the finishing touches on the outfit, the dresser brushes and styles the doll's hair. This little ballerina wears a pink bow in her ponytail. All the clothes are removable, to allow a child to change the doll's outfit. The last step before packaging is to hang an elegant, color-coordinated manufacturer's tag on the doll's right wrist. They may be wearing today's styles and fashions, but these handcrafted dolls are a testament to a toy-making tradition that goes back centuries.