Statue Restoration Tripods Polish Sausages Welding Guns
People have been crafting religious statues for years. But time can take a toll on these sacred works of art. That's where restoration experts come in. These professionals work small miracles to return statues to their former glory. This is a wooden sculpture of the christian messiah. It was originally crafted in the 15th century. But today, it's riddled with termites and broken. A major restoration has been its salvation. Now, this historic work of art is once again on display in an italian church. Like the messiah statue, this 18th century madonna is damaged. The plaster on her face is chipped. Her fingers are broken, and her robes are crumbling. First, the restorer dusts off some of the surface dirt. He uses a soft brush and gentle movements to avoid further destruction. Then, he prepares a cleaning solution. He mixes a low-acid, perfume-free soap with water. He uses mild soap because it's gentle on old plaster. He heats up the mixture to melt the soap. Then, he starts cleaning the statue. He applies the cleanser to the madonna's face and body. He lets it soak into the plaster for 7 to 15 minutes. He makes sure the statue doesn't absorb too much water because that would cause more deterioration. Next, the restorer wipes the statue down with a damp sea sponge. Centuries of dirt and grime come off. For serious stains, he combines alcohol and ammonia. He applies the cleansing mixture using a cotton swab. He lightly scrubs off the deep stains. The alcohol evaporates quickly so it's not on the surface of the statue long enough to do any more damage. This madonna statue is starting to look like her old self. The restorer uses rabbit glue for the next step. It's a strong and flexible adhesive that won't chip or crack. He dissolves some glue in distilled water. He applies it to the cloth exposed underneath the broken plaster. Then, he mixes a special plaster called gesso with the rabbit glue. The mixture is 80% plaster and 20% glue. He dabs the plaster mixture onto the glued sections to fill in the gaps in the madonna's robes. He repairs her chipped nose using a thicker version of the plaster solution. He applies it with a small spatula. After the first coat of plaster on the robes dries, the restorer adds another thicker coat. He adds more layers until he has enough material to work with. Then, he sculpts the robe's contours using a surgical scalpel. He blends the repair into the original plaster and sands it until it looks seamless. He mixes water-based paint to match the original colors. Then, he carefully covers the repaired sections, blending the old with the new. He mends the brocade by pressing gold leaf onto the border of the robes. The gold leaf sticks to the glue applied earlier, matching the original pattern. He seals the paint with carnuba wax-- it gives the surface of the statue a hard and resilient finish. It can take up to 4 months to restore a damaged statue. A sculpture that's hundreds of years old can look as good as new in just a few months. Then, churchgoers can enjoy it for centuries to come. Humans have been making three-legged objects for thousands of years. The third leg gives these structures extra stability. Some of the earliest photographs were taken with cameras mounted on tripods. In fact, the tripod has been called the most important photographic accessory ever invented. Early tripods were made out of wood. They were heavy and cumbersome. Their design and materials have improved over time to meet the needs of both hobbyists and professionals alike. Today's state-of-the-art tripod is lightweight, collapsible and equipped with precision adjustments. Contemporary tripods are made from aluminum tubes that have four different diameters. The tubes are electrowelded and anodized for precision, hardness and durability. A machine cuts the tubes to the required lengths. A press expands one end of the d-shaped tubes to keep the smaller diameters in place. Here are two of the different-sized diameter tubes. A worker inserts a tube into this machine. It uses a high-precision laser to etch the company's name into the aluminum. The laser process turns the etched aluminum white. They coat aluminum castings with powdered paint. The casting is part of a component called a spider. It connects the tripod's legs. Once painted, the components are taken to a cnc machine. The machine shapes the parts to the designer's exact specifications. A worker puts foam sleeves called leg warmers on two of the tripod's three legs. The sleeves allow photographers to easily handle the legs in extreme temperatures. The worker uses a pressurized air device to open the sleeve, then she inserts the leg. She uses a specialized machine to add the top hinge collar to the upper leg section. The parts were designed to work together and click neatly into place. Next, she applies the locking collars. When a photographer adjusts the legs, the locking collars will hold them in place. She threads a bolt through the collar ends and adds a quick-release lever to the assembly. Then, she fastens all the components in place. The levers are ergonomically designed and can be opened with one hand. She presses bushings into place on the upper collar to complete the leg assembly. Now, the tripod is ready for the next phase. But first, the worker performs a quick quality control check. She makes sure the legs slide in and out correctly. Then, she checks the locking collars. Next, she brings the legs together to form the tripod. She positions the bottom of the spider component on a specially-designed support mechanism. She installs the legs and caps them with the top of the spider, then she bolts everything in place. Next, a worker assembles the tripod head. This state-of-the-art component can be adjusted in three directions. She places plastic rings between the three main parts to ensure smooth and accurate adjustments. She installs leveling bubbles to help photographers accurately position their cameras. She adds the upper plate and the adjustment knobs. The plate screws into the camera, which conveniently mounts onto the tripod. The knobs also adjust for easy storage and transport. She labels a knob to indicate the scale of friction intensity. Once the entire head assembly is complete, a worker carefully threads it onto the tripod column. The final step in the assembly process is to slide the column and head down through the spreader. A worker checks to ensure the mechanism is working correctly, then tightens the locking knob. The finished tripod is lightweight, compact and durable. This tripod is ideal for both professionals and hobbyists. It'll keep the camera steady for anyone who wants to take portraits, profile architectural features, or capture panoramic landscapes. Polish sausage isn't necessarily made in poland. Also called kielbasa, the term refers to the style of sausage rather than its location. It's usually made entirely of pork, or a mix of pork and veal. The meat is seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. These sausages might be made in canada, but there as polish as warsaw. This kielbasa is 100% pork, traditionally seasoned and cooked by natural wood smoking. This company uses the hind leg meat leftover from the hams they sell. Each sausage recipe calls for specific portions of lean, medium, and fat meat. Workers fill three separate meat carts with the required quantity of each. They grind the contents of each cart separately. The three types of meat are ground to different sizes. The lean meat will be the largest, and the fat meat will be the smallest. The small chunks of fat meat will fill the gaps between the large, lean chunks. They also add whole garlic cloves to the grinder with the fat meat. Then, they prepare a spice mix that includes garlic powder, white pepper, coarsely-ground white, red, and black peppercorns, and a proprietary blend of dried herbs and spices. They also add pickling salt as a preservative. They blend the spices, pork, and cold water in a mixer. The mixer also vacuums air out of the meat. This helps the seasoning thoroughly saturate the pork. It also makes the sausage denser and concentrates the flavor. They mix the ingredients for 15 minutes, then let it rest and marinate for several hours. After marinating, the meat is ready to be put into sausage casings. The casing is made out of hog intestine. The filling specialist controls the fill speed with a knee-operated lever. He applies the right amount of pressure with his fingers to stuff the fragile casing without tearing it. No two hog intestines are identical, so this process can't be automated. The filling specialist constantly adjusts the speed and pressure as he works. The filling specialist takes the finished casing and gently loops it over his arm. Then, he puts the loops on the rack of a smokehouse trolley. A fully-loaded trolley holds about 550 pounds of raw sausages. They roll the trolley into the smokehouse chamber, shut the door... And light the fire. They feed maple and hickory logs into a 10-foot fire pit located directly below the chamber. They monitor each sausage while it's smoking and adjust the heat exposure as needed. The smoking period lasts for 6 to 8 hours. The meat cooks at about 160 degrees to kill off all the bacteria. The smoke infuses it with additional flavor, naturally curing the sausages. After the sausages leave the smokehouse, they're cleaned with hot water. Then, the sausages are rinsed in cold water and sent to a blast fridge. This minimizes the amount of time the sausages are warm enough for bacteria to grow. The rapid cooling procedure eliminates the need for additional chemical preservatives. A worker cuts the sausage into 4 1/2-pound portions. He places each portion in the bottom tray of the plastic package. Before sealing the tray, a machine sucks out the air and replaces it with a mix of 80% nitrogen and 20% carbon dioxide. This extends shelf life because mold and yeast can't live without oxygen. The carbon dioxide also inhibits bacterial growth. The nitrogen fills the package to protect the sausage during transport. Every sealed package passes through a metal detector. Then, a scale weighs each package and prints out a label indicating the weight and the sell-by date. A sealed and refrigerated package of sausage can stay fresh for up to 35 days. Once opened, these sausages taste best if eaten within 7 days-- and even better with a little sauerkraut. Welding guns are regulars on "how it's made". They're used in many factories all over the world. They have copper claws that hold parts together with high force, then weld items together. The guns are designed to do precision work at a steady pace. A welding gun is designed to make the same weld over and over again. They're programmed to accomplish a repetitive task with pinpoint accuracy. Production starts with the gun's electrode caps, which are made out of copper rod. The rod uncoils and travels to a forming machine with a series of punches and dies. Mechanical fingers move the rod from one die to the next. The punches drive the rod into the die cavities to shape it into electrode caps. The electrodes come in thousands of different shapes and are made it many different ways. The make this electrode, automated tools taper a thick copper rod at one end. Then, a drill bores a hole in the other end for cooling water. Smaller electrodes are made of partially-hollowed blanks. They shave down the blank so that it will be able to weld in small areas. They also shape it so that the electrode cap will fit on top. They use another drill to make an entrance for cooling water. The entrance intersects with the hollowed part of the cylinder. Then, another machine bends the electrode into its final shape. Next, they make the shunt adapter. A worker uses a hydraulic machine to bend a copper bar around a die. He measures it to confirm that the dimensions are correct. A high-pressure water jet carves through a thick copper plate to create the welding arms. The water jet can precisely cut out the part without scorching the copper. At the next station, computerized tools shape a solid block of steel into a mount for the welding machine's motor. It's a substantial transformation. An employee bolts steel plates to the end of the copper arm. He places a washer over the plates and then tightens the bolts. He inserts the electrode in the other end of the arm. Then, he places the cap on and hammers it in place. The worker uses a crane to move the second weld arm into place. He aligns the holes and joins the arms with the temporary metal pin. The transformer delivers electricity to the electrodes. A worker attaches the robot welding arms to it. He replaces the temporary pin with a permanent one. Then, he bolts the arms to the transformer. Now, the welding gun is ready for the motor. He joins the motor to the arms and tightens the bolts on each side. The mechanics of this robot welding gun are complete. Now they need to add the plumbing. An employee cuts plastic tubing and connects it to the welding gun. The tubes will supply a constant flow of water to the gun. Without it, the gun would overheat and the electrode tips could melt. He bundles some of the hoses and ties them together for neater installation. They test every robot welding gun to confirm that it's fully operational. This gun is a slightly different version that the one that was just assembled. The technician also confirms that the tips have sufficient force for a good weld. Too much force could damage the tips. Too little force would result in a poor weld. It takes about an hour to assemble a robot welding gun. This gun is ready to leave the factory and be part of the action at another one.