Exercise Bikes Cornish Pasties Pasta Makers Slate Products
Exercise bikes can provide a great cardio workout. Their tension settings are equivalent to the gears on a road bike. Cyclists can adjust the tension to control the intensity of their workout, all while staying in one place. Riding an exercise bike can help burn calories, increase strength, and reach fitness goals. They start by making the bike frame, which includes the handlebars, saddle post, and flywheel housing. An employee places all the parts in a welding fixture. The welding system is computerized. The fixture moves the parts into position and a robot accurately welds the joints of the frame. It takes 20 welds to link all the parts of the bike frame. At the next station, a machine shapes the handlebars and saddle post to the correct profile. Then, a worker polishes the welds with a wire brush. Next, they apply a black plastic finish to the metal. This process is called powder coating. An employee applies a metallic decal of the company name to the powder-coated frame. He inserts the bearing for the pedal crank axle and gently taps it into place with a hammer. He attaches a circuit board to the base. It will control the resistance of the flywheel. He threads the wiring through the hollow frame and out the handlebar post. He drills holes in the saddle-bar tubing, then, he installs the post and adjustable locking screw. He installs a temporary clamping lever on the flywheel framework, which will be used to tension the transmission build. He installs the bike saddle. Then, he uses a hydraulic system to press an axle and bearing into the center of the flywheel. He places a product-name decal on the flywheel. The cast-iron flywheel is the heart of the bike. At about 40 pounds, it's heavy enough to stabilize the bike during the stationary ride. He loops the transmission belt around the flywheel axle, then mounts the flywheel to the framework. He installs magnetic brakes and wires them to a bike computer. The brakes allow the rider to control the resistance during the ride. He connects the pulley disk to the front of the bike. Then, he loops the other end of the transmission belt around the pulley disk. He uses a clamping lever to pull the belt tight. He strums it and measures the sound to confirm the tension is right. The next worker removes the clamp and places the bike in a test station. It spins the flywheel and applies resistance. A computer analyzes the bike's performance. Another employee wires the switches for increasing and decreasing resistance. She tucks the wiring inside the handlebars. She attaches switches to the outside for easy access during the ride. She folds the lower half of the resistance wiring up and installs the wiring sleeve in between the handlebars. She screws the bracket to the handlebar housing, then, she connects the wires to the ride computer and attaches it to the bracket. She opens the computer and plugs the main power cable into the back. Then, she reinstalls the computer's back panel. This completes the handlebar assembly. The next worker encases the transmission belt and electrical parts in a plastic housing. He attaches the pedals to the axle. Then, he places plastic caps on the ends and hammers them into place. He packages the bike and handlebar assembly separately. This exercise bike is now ready to ride. It may be stationary, but, when it comes to fitness, this bike should help riders go the distance. A pasty is a common british meal consisting of meat and vegetables wrapped in a pastry. Historically, the cornish pasty was served as a convenient meal for miners in the cornwall area of the united kingdom. The crimped edge served as a handle, allowing workers to enjoy their food without contaminating it with their dirty hands. The cornish pasty is the national dish of cornwall in the uk. Its signature crimped edge, along with other characteristics, are culturally and commercially protected. Under european union regulations, only pasties made the traditional way in cornwall can be sold as cornish pasties. The traditional recipe begins with pastry dough. Workers combine lard and margarine with salt and flour. They mix these ingredients at low speeds so they don't overheat the fats. The solid fats break up gradually and combine with the flour and salt to form a bread-crumb-like texture. After about five minutes, they add water. Then, they resume mixing, until the dough reaches the right consistency. They let the dough rest for about an hour. This relaxes the gluten in the flour, preventing the dough from shrinking when it bakes. They put it in an extruder, which feeds it down an automated forming line. At the first station, the dough passes through several rollers, which progressively flatten it into a sheet. They add flour to the dough, so it doesn't stick to the rollers. The flattened dough finally exits the first station. The next station uses revolving cutters to slice the dough into 5-ounce disks. The excess dough is collected and reworked into the next batch. Flattening and cutting the dough heats it up, so they put it in a refrigerator for about an hour, to restore its elasticity. Meanwhile, they prepare the pasties' vegetable filling. Workers load washed potatoes into an industrial peeler. It spins them inside an abrasive metal drum to remove the skins. Then, the potatoes go through a dicer, which cuts them to a specific size. The dicer deposits the potatoes in water, to remove any excess starch. Workers combine the potatoes with diced rutabaga and onion in a vegetable mixer. They add melted butter, to help caramelize the onions. They also add salt, pepper, and a blend of other seasonings. They run the mixer for about two minutes. Then, the vegetable filling joins the other components on the production line. Workers place the dough on a moving belt with the front edge of each disk on a white line. This position ensures that the depositor's nozzles drop the filling onto the right spot. Next, workers place fresh, lean skirt steak on top of the vegetables. The steak is cut from the forequarter of prime beef. According to european union regulations, 12.5% of a cornish pasty must be beef. This company's pasties exceed that, containing at least 17.5%. Highly skilled workers close the cornish pasty with the signature crimped edge. They fold the dough in half, form 19 to 22 even crimps along the back of the pasty, then, neatly tuck the end. This must be done with both precision and speed. It takes these expert crimpers about 20 seconds per pasty. Workers collect the pasties and make a small incision, to vent some moisture as the bake. The remaining juices will infuse the vegetables, producing a flavorful gravy. The factory immediately cools the finished cornish pasties to about 65° fahrenheit. This keeps the raw ingredients fresh during packaging. Pasties are stored and shipped frozen, then glazed and baked onsite. After 45 to 50 minutes in the oven, these traditional cornish pasties are ready to serve. Fresh pasta is made from a moist egg and flour dough that's mixed, kneaded, and rolled into a sheet. Then, the dough is cut into soft noodles, ravioli, or other shapes, using a pasta maker. This italian-made industrial pasta maker is designed for restaurants and smaller pasta suppliers. The machine is only five feet wide, but it's still capable of mixing the dough and pressing it into a variety of pasta shapes. The machine can turn dough into ravioli or assorted types of long and short pasta. The machine's three stations-- the extruder, the ravioli maker, and the pasta cutter-- are constructed from stainless-steel parts. A computer-guided punch press makes the required holes and slots. Workers insert pieces into a press to bend them to the required shape. This is a cover for one of the machine's components. Once all the pieces are ready, workers weld them together. The machine's pasta cutter uses stainless-steel cutting rollers to slice the pasta. Each roller starts out as a stainless-steal rod. A computer-guided mill carves grooves into it. The groove width determines the width of the pasta. The pasta cutter contains four pairs of rollers that cut the pasta to different widths: 2-millimeter-wide taglionlini, 4-millimeter-wide fettuccine, 8-millimeter-wide tagliatelle, and 12-millimeter-wide pappardelle. Rollers are available in additional sizes. Workers install four corresponding pairs of steel combs underneath the rollers. The combs gently scrape the dough out of the grooves to eject the cut pasta. Next, workers install the gears that turn the rollers. The gears engage one another, so that the rollers revolve at the same speed. This ensures that the cutter operates smoothly and quietly. The motor turns the larger main gear, which moves the others. They mount protective covers. This critical safety feature prevents users' fingers from getting caught in the rollers. At the base of the cutter, they mount a smooth laminating roller. This roller thins the dough sheet before the cutting rollers slice it. They install the electrically powered motor that turns the main gear. Then, the handle that moves the laminating roller. Here, they've removed the protective covers to demonstrate how the cutting rollers operate. Next, they build the extruder. They mount a blade in the dough mixer and connect it to an electric motor. The extrusion tube is located directly below the dough mixer. The dough is pushed through a bronze die in the extrusion tube. The dies can be changed to make different types of pasta. One die makes a flat sheet of dough, for cutting long pasta or making ravioli. Other dies can be used to make short pasta, such as fusilli or rotini. The machine's third station is the motorized ravioli maker. It also has interchangeable dies, to make different shapes of ravioli. Now, this machine is ready to make pasta. First, they pour in the dough ingredients and mix for 15 minutes. Then, they pull a lever to feed the dough through the extruder. This is the die that makes a dough sheet for the long pasta cutter or ravioli maker. They cut the dough off the extruder and put it through the cutter's laminating roller to thin it. Then, they feed it through the rollers in one of the cutting slots. To make ravioli, they extrude two narrow sheets and put them through the ravioli maker. A tube injects the filling between the sheets before the die crimps them together. A cooling system built into the extruder prevents the dough from heating up as it's forced through the die. This keeps the pasta fresh for a long time. Slate was originally used to make roof shingles, as well as floor and wall tiles, but, now, this metamorphic rock is used all over the house. Artisans are using slate to create everyday items, including tableware, address plaques, and garden accessories. These cornish slate products use traditional building materials in nontraditional ways. In cornwall, they have been mining slate for hundreds of years. Some of the craftsman's slate is old roof or floor tile retrieved from the demolition sites. Other projects require new slate, fresh from the quarry. The craftsman selects and older piece from a cheese board. He evaluates the color, as well as the thickness and shape. Older slate is weathered and has more colors running through it. He scrapes the loose slate off the surface, working carefully to avoid fracturing the stone's thin layers. He sweeps off the scrapings. He scrubs the slate tile with a chemical cleaning solution and rinses off the residue. The slate dries in minutes. As the water evaporates, the color changes dramatically from dark gray to light gray with a bluish hue. He measures the slate for cutting and scores it lightly with a sharp tool. He places a template for the handle within the scored boundaries and marks it for drilling. Then, he cuts the slate with a slate guillotine. It's a double-bladed tool similar to a paper cutter. He leaves a margin for trimming. He breaks off the margin by tapping it with a special slater's tool and checks the edges, to confirm that they're neat. Then, he redefines the markings for the handle holds. The craftsman drills holes through the slate for the handles. Then, he changes the drill bit to cut a sloped profile into the holes. This will allow the screws to sit flush against the slate. He brushes the edges, to get rid of loose chips, and refines the ends with a razor blade. The craftsman washes the slate one more time. The glues four small silicone knobs onto the base. The knobs act as legs, so the cheese plate can be set on any surface. He applies two coats of food-safe sealer to the slate. Each coat takes a day to dry. Then, he installs the stainless-steel handles. This slate cheese board is now ready to hold a few snacks. From an old roof tile to a nice piece of tableware. It's quite a transformation. Next, the craftsman slices a block of new slate with a wet saw. New slate comes in thicker chunks. It can be used to make signage. He uses eight different grades of diamond abrasive pads to polish the surface until it's completely flat. Then, he uses a computerized graphic cutter to make a stencil out of vinyl. He places the stencil over the slate and sandblasts it with a special compound. The process creates rough grooves in the slate. The grooves will allow paint to adhere to the stone. Another employee uses the stencil to apply paint to the slate. She allows each coat of the paint to dry before brushing on the next. She applies four coats in total. When she's finished, she peels off the vinyl. This custom slate sign is ready of face the street. It takes four days to craft, seal, and paint the sign. Now that it's complete, the sign is sure to make a rock-solid impression.