Mountain Bikes Rice Lever Action Rifles
In the late 1800s, the american military tried modifying bicycles to help infantrymen cross rough terrain. Cyclists continued experimenting, and the first mountain bike was created in 1978. The popularity of mountain biking has grown ever since. Mountain bikes are specially designed to perform on rough terrain. They have a suspension to help keep the wheels in contact with the ground, deep-treaded tires for added traction, and powerful disc brakes for safety. At the core of a mountain bike is the small, robust frame. It needs to be lightweight yet highly durable. The factory uses a test bench to simulate the effects of repeated impacts and vibration on the bike frame. Three days of testing can simulate 10 years of intensive use. The frame is made from tubes of aluminum alloy. Aluminum is lighter than steel and cheaper than carbon fiber, and it won't burst like carbon in case of a large impact. They cut each tube to the required length. They use jigs to get consistent dimensions and precise cutting angles. This will be extremely important when they assemble the frame. Each model and size of frame has its own welding jig. They start tack-welding the tubes in place. Then they proceed with the final welding. It's a delicate step because the tubes are very thin. After welding, the aluminum frame will undergo a heat treatment. First, the frames will be heated intensely, then quickly quenched in a cool bath. This makes the metal easier to work with. This next step is necessary because slight deformations are created in the frame during welding. Using precise measuring instruments and a rubber mallet to avoid denting the metal, a technician ensures the frame is perfectly parallel to the alignment table. It's not easy to align the shorter tubes, so he uses a longer rod for this task. After alignment, the frame will be heated one last time to harden the aluminum. Once the aluminum exhibits the right mechanical properties, it's ready for boring. This crucial procedure makes the inside of the hole perfectly straight and aligned with the frame's geometric design. In the painting department, they spray auto-grade paint, which then dries in an oven for 20 minutes. Next they use ink transfer tape to apply the logo on the bicycle frame. After that logo dries in the oven, they will finish with a clear coat of varnish. Everything must be perfect. When buying a new bicycle, most mountain bikers pay very close attention to the quality of the paint job. The bicycle is ready for the final assembly. The assembler starts with the rear shock absorber, which contains oil to dampen the suspension movement. This way, the suspension doesn't bounce up and down uncontrollably after an impact. The stiffness of that dampening is adjustable by the rider. The assembler links the shock absorber to the seat stay. He installs the handlebar and the stem on the steering column. Next he installs the rear brake caliper. This is a hydraulic brake, actioned by brake fluid that travels through a hydraulic hose. It's positioned on the frame in such a way that anchoring clips don't restrict its movement. Now it's time to install the crankset and the derailleurs. These are useful on technical terrain, where quick gear changes are key to successfully maneuvering trail obstacles. He installs the rear wheel. It's equipped with 10 cogs and a disc brake. Its deep-treaded tire will grip the ground of treacherous mountain paths. Now he screws in the front brake caliper. It takes about an hour to fully assemble the mountain bike. The fork provides the front suspension... While the rear suspension is connected to the rear wheel through a system of pivots at the back. As the wheel and pivots move back and forth, their movement is dampened by the shock absorber, helping to keep the wheel in contact with the ground. Mountain bikes are engineered to withstand the demands of off-road riding. Precise manufacturing and testing also ensure that the mountain bike will survive years of use and abuse. In many parts of the world, rice is the main grain. In fact, it is a food staple for nearly half of the planet's population. Native to asia, it has been grown and consumed for thousands of years. But today, machines do much of the harvesting and processing in order to feed the enormous demand. These perfectly formed kernels of rice are essentially a crop that has been allowed to go to seed. After about 150 days of growth, the rice seed is ready for harvest. Machinery strips it from the stalks and also suctions out some of the empty husks. Trucks transport the rice to storage facilities. They empty it into a grated opening at the receiving pit. The grates filter out some of the larger stalks and debris. From the pit, a chain conveyor moves the rice up to storage silos and into warehouses. Inside the storage facilities, fans blow air through the mountain of rice to lower the moisture content substantially. With the rice sufficiently dried, it's on to the processing plant. Here, a probe vacuums up samples from both the front and the back of the massive truckload. The probe delivers the samples to a lab. A technician first tests the moisture content to confirm that it's on target. He then transfers batches to a sifting bin to screen for bugs. He switches on a heat lamp to wake them up. He shakes the rice and scrutinizes. He also examines the tray underneath for tiny bugs that may have fallen through the holes. If he finds just one moth or beetle, the entire 5,500-pound truckload of rice will be rejected. Next the rice falls through perforations in rolling cylinders, screening out the straw which spills over the side. The next machine sifts out the remaining straw bits and any weed seed. It also suctions out empty rice husks. They're lightweight and pulled out with a weak vacuum. Finally, they remove mud balls. Free of contaminants, the rice now spills between two rubber rollers, one moving faster than the other. This shears off the husks. The rice and empty husks then cascade into another machine. This is a demo version of the actual production one. Weak suctioning pulls out the husks to separate them from the heavier rice. The dehusking process misses a few kernels, so next giant sifting machines screen out that rice. Still in husks, it's bigger and doesn't pass through the holes in the shaking trays. They dehusk that rice and mix it with the rest. Grinding machines now mill the rice to remove the bran. The bran spills out of perforations and is recovered for use in cattle feed. With the bran removed, the rice goes from brown to white. The final grinding polishes the rice to give it a pearly sheen. This is the unmilled brown rice. And here it is with the bran removed. During milling, some rice kernels are damaged. This spinning, dimpled cylinder now separates the broken kernels from the whole ones. The broken rice kernels fall into the dimples of the cylinder, and from there, into an internal catch pan. They'll be used to make cereal or beer. The whole rice now moves through a color sorter. Computerized cameras analyze it for dark imperfections and signal air nozzles to blast them out of the mix. Of course, there's also a market for unmilled brown rice. Now ready for packaging, a scraper moves it across a table and into plastic tubes below. Hot jaws seal the tubes at both ends, and this rice is in the bag. Brown or white, short or medium grain, there are plenty of options. Different types of rifles load the gun in different ways. A lever-action rifle has, as the name implies, a lever, which you move downwards to load the ammunition cartridge into the gun's chamber. When you pull the lever back up, it cocks the hammer and the gun is ready to fire. This italian company makes exact reproductions of the renowned winchesters produced in the u.s. starting in 1866. These lever-actions were a game-changer in that era, because you no longer had to reload your rifle one cartridge at a time. To make the barrel, the long tube through which the ammunition shoots, the factory starts with a bar of solid steel that's one inch in diameter. A computer-guided circular saw slices it into barrel-length pieces. Next a computer-guided drill bores through the center of each barrel-length bar. The drill is fluted, which provides a channel for a continuous high-pressure flow of cutting oil. This breaks down the metal shavings as the drill advances from one end of the bar to the other over the course of five minutes. A reamer gradually widens the bore to the required diameter. This takes 15 minutes. The diameter of the barrel is what determines a firearm's caliber. A rifle gets its name from the next operation. This specialized tool rifles the barrel, meaning it carves spiraled grooves into the barrel bore's smooth walls. This process takes twice as long as drilling and reaming combined. The grooves in the barrel put a spin on the cartridge's bullet as it exits the gun. Like the perfect pass of a football, this spin stabilizes the bullet, rendering it more aerodynamic. That makes the shot more accurate over a long distance. The next machine mills the outside of the barrel. This particular model has an octagonal barrel, so the machine mills eight sides. Another machine then makes threads on the back end so the barrel can later screw into the adjacent part of the rifle. A local foundry, meanwhile, forges the rifle's lever. Workers feed solid steel bars into a small furnace. The furnace temperature, a blazing 2,200 degrees fahrenheit, softens the steel in a matter of seconds. While the bar is still red-hot, they place it in a die and stamp it with a press to bend it. Then two more pressings in a different die form the bent bar into the basic shape of the lever. A fourth pressing, against a razor-sharp die this time, trims the perimeter. The roughly shaped lever is now ready for machining in the rifle factory. There, a computer-guided mill works at it for eight minutes. It meticulously shaves off bits of steel until the lever's shape is perfected. The mechanical section of the rifle is called the action. Like the lever, it's forged out of a steel bar. Then, over the course of an hour, it's machined to specifications by 100 different computer-guided tools. This operation not only finalizes the action's external shape, it also hollows out areas for the internal components, namely the rifle's lever-activated loading and firing mechanism. But before that assembly happens, the action takes a side trip to a metal treatment plant where it undergoes a two-step process. First it's submerged for three minutes in a hot-water bath with special salts which harden the steel. Then a quick dip in a second bath, where a coloring chemical gives the steel an antique finish. The action now returns to the gun factory to rejoin the rifle's other components. The action is the middle section of the rifle. The barrel screws onto the front of it, while the gun's wooden handle attaches to the back of it. When you pull the trigger, the hammer hits the firing pin. This strikes the cartridge, igniting the explosive primer inside. The blast propels the bullet out of the barrel of the gun. To assemble the rifle's firing mechanism, workers first attach the trigger and the hammer spring to a larger component called the trigger guard. Then they connect the hammer itself with a tight-fitting pin. The hammer spring provides resistance, allowing the hammer to hit the firing pin hard enough to fire the cartridge after it's cocked. Taking the action, they insert the bolt containing the firing pin, then the firing pin extension. This wedge piece links those two components. They insert the trigger guard into the action, coaxing it into the correct position with a few taps of a mallet. They attach the lever underneath the trigger guard. They mount a spring on each side of the lever to put tension on it. Then finally, they connect the lever to the firing mechanism with two sets of links. To cock the hammer and prepare to pull the trigger to fire, you pull down the lever, then pull it back up. After firing, you move the lever up and down again to eject the spent cartridge and reload and cock for the next shot. They finish assembling the action by attaching side plates, one of which has a side-loading gate for inserting the cartridges. The action has two threaded holes-- one for attaching the magazine to that holds the cartridges and the other for attaching the barrel. Its threaded end requires some top filing in order to meet the various strict specifications set out by the proofhouse. The proofhouse is responsible for ensuring that firearms conform to all manufacturing regulations. To attach the barrel to the action, they lock the barrel in a vise, then screw the action on to the threaded end. They use various tools and gauges to ensure the two parts are perfectly aligned and that the lever closes completely when pulled up. Next they insert what's called a check cartridge of the appropriate caliber into the chamber. This checks the internal spacing to ensure the ammunition feeds correctly and fires safely. Then they mount a temporary stock on the other end of the action and send the rifle to the proofhouse for performance and safety testing. There, technicians place it in an enclosed chamber, load ammunition, and fire twice. The proofhouse hand-punches markings onto the bottom of the rifle. These markings, recognized by the european economic community, officially certify that the firearm functions properly and safely. The gun factory contracts a woodworking company to produce the rifle's stock. It's made from a block of walnut. First workers trace a template that's in the basic shape of the stock. They saw along the trace line. This gives them a starting form, which computer-guided machines then refine. A mill progressively carves the detailed profile with a series of different tools. Then they mount the stock on a lathe, which rotates it against a sander to smooth the surface and perfect the shape. The stock has two holes in the back to which they attach an endpiece. The woodshop stains and varnishes the finished stock and sends it to the gun factory, where workers attach it to the action. After that, they mount the magazine tube to the action. When you feed cartridges into the side-loading gate, they drop into the magazine tube. Upon levering the rifle, a carrier pushes up one cartridge, which the bolt then pushes into the chamber, preparing the rifle to fire.