Today, on "how it's made"...

Thinner than a human hair, ultrathin glass flexes like plastic.

It can also have greater electrical sensitivity, making it useful for things like fingerprint scanning on smartphones.

Manufacturers have only just begun to explore the potential of this new class of glass.

When it comes to sheer flexibility, thin is in.

Ultrathin glass bends like a sheet of paper and a chemical process ensures that it's extremely robust.

To make ultrathin glass, manufacturers use standard materials, such as lime, sand, soda, and potash.

They store the ingredients in separate silos, until it's time for production.

Then, inside the factory, a long cable delivers electricity to power a weigh cart.

As the dry ingredients flow out of the silos and down chutes, the cart moves forward to collect them.

It weighs the ingredients until it has the correct amounts for the glass recipe and then closes the lid automatically.

A worker measures the secondary, smaller, ingredients manually and adds them to the batch.

These ingredients enhance qualities like optical clarity or electrical sensitivity.

The cart transfers the batch to a mixer.

As it blends everything together, they add bits of broken, or waste, glass to it for recycling purposes.

Once it's been thoroughly mixed, a lift raises a funnel-shaped container up to the base of the mixer and the mixer releases the batch into it.

A worker hauls the batch-laden funnel tank to the next station.

There, a crane takes over and lowers the tank onto a feeder system just above a gas-and-electric furnace.

A trapdoor opens at the funnel's base and the mixture flows into the feeder mechanism.

It's a kind of shovel that slowly pushes the mixture into the furnace, which has been fired to a blazing 2,732° fahrenheit.

The shovel continuously adds more ingredients to keep production flowing.

Glass production runs 24/7.

The melting glass reaches the consistency of honey.

The molten glass flows out through a narrow slit and this slit establishes the ultrathin dimensions of the glass.

Cooling the glass slowly relieves internal stresses as the glass solidifies.

Ultrathin glass can be just 25 microns thick.

That's finer than a hair.

And it's this thinness that makes it so flexible.

The glass bends to loop down and up across rollers as it journeys forward in a continuous, nearly 2-foot-wide sheet and, unlike ordinary glass, it doesn't crack.

It then travels past tiny cameras and laser sensors that look for defects, like bubbles.

A computer maps any flaws, so they can be avoided when the glass is cut into smaller pieces.

A revolving spool rolls up the glass, along with a plastic liner, which keeps the glass layers from sticking to one another.

Once 546 yards of thin glass has been wound onto the spool, an automated system cuts the glass and slides the spool partway off the core and onto a rack.

The operator gives it a push to complete the transfer and then rolls the rack to the next station.

A lab technician slices off a fragment of the glass and inserts it in a micrometer.

It gauges the thickness of the specimen and confirms that it's superthin.

Another lab worker places a bigger segment of the glass under a cutter.

He aligns it correctly and then activates the cutter.

It scribes the glass, so it can be broken on this line, creating small screens for smartphones and smartwatches.

A lab technician examines the glass for scratches under a bright light and confirms that it's undamaged.

With that out of the way, it's time to have a little fun with a strip of this ultrathin glass.

A worker bends it into a circle and ties it.

It's hard to believe this is glass.

Later, a chemical treatment will further strengthen the ultrathin glass, so that the chance of cracks or breaks will be very thin.

When wooden shipping pallets break and need repair, or outlive their usefulness, they can be taken apart by pallet-dismantling machines, which saw through the nails to separate the wood blocks and planks.

Salvageable pieces become new pallets, while broken pieces go into a wood chipper.

With its powerful band saw, this pallet-dismantling machine slices through the nails that fasten the pallet's wood blocks to its transversal planks.

The machine's shell, the equivalent of the body panels on a car, is made of steel sheets.

A computer-guided laser cutter cuts them to the required shape.

Then, workers bend the ends on a brake press to make edges with perfectly formed corners.

Once shaped, the shell parts go to a paint shop.

Workers build the structure of the machine out of heavy-duty steel tubes.

After sawing them to the length required, they smooth the rough-cut edge with a hand-grinder.

Workers mark where they have to make openings for various parts and drill the holes.

They weld the tubes together to assemble the structure.

They clean the surface with acid to remove traces of lubricant.

Then, they spray paint the structure.

The workers assemble the mechanical parts to the structure.

They bolt on a plate to support the machine's electric engine.

Then, on each side, they install a wheel.

Next, workers install the motor reducer.

To that, they bolt the machine's 2,800-rpm engine.

The motor reducer decreases the speed of the engine to the sawing speed required to dismantle the pallet.

Just above the tires on both sides, they bolt a blade guide to the structure.

They install the front of the machine's shell and lower the machine's heavy, steel worktable.

Now, the band-saw blade, which has a safety cover over its sharp teeth until the machine is operational.

On each side of the worktable, workers align the blade with a tire and insert it between the wheels of the blade guide.

The blade is steel, with carbide tips for added strength and resistance to wear.

They turn this bolt to adjust the tension.

They enclose the tire and blade guides in the side sections of the machine's shell.

Then, workers install two pneumatic cylinders for raising and lowering a safety cage that goes over the worktable to protect the machine operator.

Next, another pneumatic cylinder, this one, at the rear for the machine's guide arm.

The guide arm, installed next, helps move the pallet around while the machine's band-saw blade cuts it apart.

They install the safety cage over the worktable, then hook up the cables that feed compressed air to the pneumatic cylinders.

They install another safety cage over the back of the machine, then, a pressure regulator for pneumatic cylinders.

They mount the machine's control panel on the shell.

It's wired to the engine and pneumatic system, as well as a set of foot pedals that moves the table up and down and another pedal that moves the guide arm.

The operator places the pallet on the worktable and lowers the safety cage.

With the foot pedal, he moves the arm to the right to angle the pallet against the blade.

This lets it slice through multiple nails holding the wood planks and blocks together.

Often frosted and adorned with sprinkles, a cupcake is a sugary indulgence that you don't have to share.

We don't really know who invented them, but cupcakes have been around for a century or more, much to the satisfaction of those who want a little cake all to themselves.

These minicupcakes are the sweetest little things and there's plenty for everyone because they're mass-produced in a factory.

The dairy and nut-free recipe starts with canola oil.

A worker pours a measured amount into a huger mixer bowl.

A blend of baking power, sea salt, and other microingredients is next.

He then adds a big bag of sugar.

They'll be making 15,000 minicupcakes in this batch.

Pastry flour flows into the mixer from a silo nearby.

He adds cocoa, for chocolate flavoring, then, activates the mixer, to blend it all together.

Next are the eggs.

They'll act as a binding agent for the chocolate batter and will have a leavening effect during baking.

A quick mix folds the eggs into the chocolatey blend.

A pump now transfers the batter to the next station.

The bakery's temperature is critical during pumping.

Too warm, and the mixture will be too thin to pump.

Too cool, and it will be too thick.

The pump delivers the batter to a hopper.

Down the line a bit, a conveyor moves baking trays forward.

A machine uses suctioning devices to pick up paper liners, flip them right-side-up, and insert them in the baking trays.

Valves open and dispense the batter in the hopper into the cupcake liners in the pans.

The system controls the flow of batter, so it only fills the liners one-third of the way.

This leaves room for the cake to rise during baking.

The pans move through different levels, with a range of temperature zones over a period of 25 minutes, finally emerging from the other side.

During baking, the cupcakes have risen above the liners.

They now head into a cooling chamber.

They stay in here for 20 minutes, while fans blow air onto them to cool them down.

The cooling firms up the cakes.

A robot plunges pinlike tentacles into the cupcakes to lift them out of the pans with the paper liners attached.

It transfers them to the packaging conveyor line.

Workers pack them in clamshell plastic containers, a dozen to each one.

They leave the containers open because they still need to decorate these cupcakes.

Ahead, fluffy chocolate icing flows out of a hopper into applicators.

They deposit the icing in a swirl onto the cupcakes, adding nearly an inch of height and a lot more sweetness.

Down the line, workers load sugary sprinkles into another hopper.

A feeder dispenses a few more of the sprinkles onto each of the frosted cupcakes.

The containers then ride by a rail that folds the lids over.

A pusher device presses down on the lids to close them tightly.

The containers of minicupcakes then meet up with a roller that applies the adhesive-backed labeling.

Before the cupcakes can leave the factory, a technician tests a sample from the production line.

He crumbles some of the cake into pods and places them in a machine.

The machine probes the water content at a microscopic level to determine if the cupcake is moist enough.

Another test evaluates the cupcake's texture.

When the samples pass this technological scrutiny, the cupcakes are ready for human taste buds.

As a component of mechanical equipment, seamless tube is stronger, and therefore more resistant to pressure and tension, than tube with a welded seam.

That's because seamless tube is manufactured from a solid bar of stainless steel, rather than from a strip of stainless that's rolled and welded into a tube.

Seamless stainless-steel tube is used when reliability is critical; for example, in aerospace engines, nuclear equipment, and medical devices.

The manufacturer purchases stainless-steel tubes in a range of lengths, diameters, and thicknesses.

Workers select the right starting size for the specific tube the customer has ordered.

They check the length with a measuring tape, then use a large micrometer to measure the outside diameter.

They switch to a smaller micrometer to measure the wall thickness.

Then, they weigh the tubes.

If the raw material meets all the specs, production can begin.

They insert one end of each tube into this rotary swager.

It shapes the end to a point, to enable it to fit through a die with a smaller diameter.

Workers spread lubricant into a steel bar, insert it into the other end of the tube, then insert the pointed end through a draw die.

This carriage then grabs the protruding point and draws the full length of the tube through the die and over the steel bar.

The die reduces the tube to a smaller outside diameter, while the bar sets the desired inside diameter.

The tube walls thin out and the tube elongates in the process.

The next machine's two rollers apply pressure to the outside of the tube as it passes.

This expands the tube slightly, creating a slight gap between the tube walls and the bar inside.

This enables the next machine to extract the bar.

Finally, workers saw the point off the tube.

They place several tubes at a time in a degreasing unit, which uses a cleaning solution to remove all traces of lubricant the tubes picked up during the draw process.

Workers then transfer the tubes to drying tanks, positioning them at a slight downward angle.

As air blows through the tubes for about a half hour, all of the cleaning solution either drains or evaporates.

To further clean the inside of the tubes, workers insert a felt wad into each one, then squirt in some cleaning solvent.

They shoot in compressed air to force the wad down the tube.

As the wad travels the length of the tube, it wipes the inside wall with the cleaning solvent.

Next, workers strap the tubes to a belt that takes them on a 30-minute trip through a furnace.

The temperature inside is more than 1,800° fahrenheit.

This intense heat softens the steel, which had hardened as a result of having been pulled through the draw die earlier.

This process is called annealing and it slightly warps the tubes, so, next, they pass through a straightening machine.

Then, the entire cycle repeats, until it's reduced to precisely the diameter and wall thickness the customer ordered.

The finished tube can be up to 40 times its original starting length.

To ensure the structural integrity of each tube, workers run an electrical current around the circumference.

A break in the current indicates a defect, which workers then cut out with a saw before cutting the tube into the specific lengths the customer ordered.

The saw cuts leave burns, rough edges, so workers insert the cut ends in a deburring machine which grinds the edges smooth.

The last step is to submerge the tubes in an acid solution, to remove any iron particles picked up from the processing.

This prevents the tubes from rusting.

In addition to inspecting every tube that leaves the factory, quality-control testing of random samples ensures the product meets all technical specifications.


Baseball Gloves
Medical Electrodes
Stetson Hats

A baseball glove is an extraordinary thing.

Each and every one starts out brand spanking new and ends up fitting its owner like a second skin.

Before long, the player and his glove are inseparable.

The glove helps him live his dreams and fills his imagination with lifelong memories.

Baseball gloves have evolved from hard, leather mitts to the sophisticated design players depend on today.

It all starts with a hydraulic press that punches out the felt padding that will cushion the fingers and thumb.

The holes will be used to lace the glove.

Another press cuts out the palm section of the glove from a side of leather.

The palm section also has lacing holes cut into it.

The hydraulic press then cuts out the web, or pocket, of the glove, preparing it for lacing, as well.

Meanwhile, a machine heat embosses the palm section with the company logo.

Embossing also helps identify different leathers and glove styles.

Another worker hand-weaves the front and back pieces of the pocket.

This special basket-weave web gives the glove additional flexibility and control.

Pockets first appeared in gloves in the 1930s.

She stitches the pocket together.

Then, she applies glue to secure the tail ends, closes the flap, and stitches the web shut.

Another worker then sews the palm lining and the finger lining together.

By stitching the palm and finger linings together, she completes the interior piece of the glove that touches a player's hand.

She then sews the felt finger pads to the lining.

These pads give the glove extra comfort and control.

To build the outer shell of the glove, she sews welting leather between the fingers.

This makes the seam stronger.

Then, she sews the fingers and the palm piece together to complete the back part of the outer shell.

Some leather softener helps prevent tearing as she stitches the back and the front parts of the outer shell together.

She also uses welting leather to add strength and rigidity to the outer shell.

A worker mounts the finished outer shell on to a finger form, heated to about 248 degrees fahrenheit.

It takes heat and leather softener to allow the worker to manipulate the shell without damaging the leather.

The worker then transfers the softened outer shell on to a stationary turning stick in order to turn the outer shell inside out.

He works the outer shell one finger at a time so he doesn't spoil the leather or the stitching.

He makes sure all is perfect.

Another worker slips the interior lining on to a mounting support, then covers the lining with the outer shell.

He works the leather to make sure the lining and the shell fit together properly.

Then he applies a special paste that makes the palm more flexible.

He inserts a felt pad into the thumb...

Then another cushioning pad into the pinky finger, using a metal rod to fully insert both pads.

He then starts lacing the glove with a long strip of leather.

Lacing the glove is a labor-intensive skill that can take up to an hour.

No machine can do this.

He makes sure the lacing gets the right tension and the attractive side of the leather faces upwards.

Using special knots and loops, he laces the entire glove by hand.

A worker inserts wooden dowels and mounts the glove on more hot fingers to open up the fingers and thumb.

This helps the player's hand fit into the glove more easily.

Now this truly looks and fits like a glove.

Today's baseball gloves come in all different colors and styles.

They are so finely hand-crafted, they could be called works of art.

Medical electrodes can help your doctor find out what's going on with your health in a heartbeat.

These little sensors detect electrical currents in the heart, brain, and other parts of the body, and they're wired to monitoring equipment that records it.

They're inexpensive, disposable, and essential to healthcare.

When the nurse says this won't hurt a bit, you can trust her, if the test she's about to give you involves medical electrodes.

These electrodes stick to the skin and probe beneath the surface without actually piercing it.

They send information to monitoring equipment so specialists can assess it.

These electrodes start with a roll of foam.

The foam is coated with medical-grade adhesive and has a paper backing to keep the layers from sticking together.

Machinery pulls the foam over a punch cutter which make small holes in it.

But first, razors slit the paper, and equipment pulls it away from the thumb to expose the adhesive.

The process leaves strips of paper along the edge.

The thumb moves forward, sticky side up, as plastic elements and metal snaps cascade into a feeder system.

They're cueing up to be installed in the holes punched in the foam earlier.

Vacuum heads picked up the elements and insert them into those holes.

The elements are coated with silver chloride, which makes them electrically conductive so they'll help pick up electrical activity in the body.

Next, pneumatic equipment press-fits the metal snaps onto the elements.

These snaps are also electrically conductive.

Down the line, a blade slices through gel that's sandwiched between two thin plastic liners.

Machinery pulls those liners away from the gel.

This gel is water-based and contains salt, which will seep into the skin to help establish electrical contact.

Another blade cuts the gel into small rectangles, and they land on a thicker plastic liner.

The gel liner and foam with its elements and snaps come together, and the gels land directly on the elements.

Rollers press everything together in a tight sandwich.

Equipment pushes that sandwich forward into a cutting station.

That's protective padding you see around the cutters.

It protects the blades from the adhesive on the foam as they punch out electrode shapes.

Blades now lightly perforate the plastic liner around the electrodes, while below, equipment pulls away the scrap.

The perforations will allow the electrodes to be torn into individual units later, and it also makes it easier to fold up for packaging.

Remember that paper left along the edge of the foam early on?

It serves as pull tabs on some of the electrodes.

The tab makes it easier to apply the electrode to the patient and then remove it.

They package the electrodes in a special material made of plastic, aluminum, and paper.

Hot metal plates melt and seal the material to form an airtight pouch.

Finally, a long blade cuts the pouches into individual units.

It has taken less than a minute to make this package of medical electrodes.

They'll use many of them in just one test.

With the gel side of the electrode pressed against the skin, they wire it to the monitoring equipment.

And within minutes, these electrodes can signal problems, and that could save a life.

After the test, the electrodes will be discarded-- disposable and yet indispensable in the world of medicine.

The cowboy hat was made popular in 1865 by the stetson hat company and its founder, john b. stetson.

Part of its attractiveness in the american old west was the wide brim that protected the cowboy from the elements, a high crown that kept a pocket of warm air on his head, and the ability to carry water if he needed to.

All models of stetson hats are made from blends of pretreated fur, including beaver, rabbit, and wild hare.

First, a worker gathers the mixture of different fur and deposits it into a picker machine that begins blending the fur together.

The picker roller, which dates from the 1890s, sends the fur into a mixer.

Inside the mixer, compressed air blows the fur around.

This settles and removes any dust and dirt that may be trapped in the fur.

After about an hour, the blended fur settles into a collection box.

A worker puts it through a rotating loader machine that sends the fur into a multichambered blower.

A look inside the blower reveals a series of picker rollers.

These rollers, along with blowing air, allow the lighter fur to flow through the chambers while the heavier hair and the impurities fall to the bottom.

At the back of the blower, the worker gathers and weighs the amount of fur needed to make just one hat.

That amount varies depending on the size and style.

The proper amount of fur then moves by conveyor belt into a forming machine.

Here, a vacuum sucks the fur onto a cone form.

The fur builds up like a fragile blanket of dust that must be held down by wet cotton mesh.

For extra protection, a worker wraps burlap onto the cone and puts a metal cover over it.

He weighs it down and gives the fur cone a good soaking in a vat of hot, soapy water to make the fur fibers curl up and lock together.

Shortly after, the worker peels the newly formed felted fur blanket off the cone.

At this stage, the interlocked fur fibers are still very fragile, so a worker protects the cones from damage by wrapping them in cloth.

Then, she puts them through a hardening process which consists of a series of massaging rollers and hot-water baths.

The rollers in the hot-water baths increasingly shrink and tighten the fur fibers together.

The final and most aggressive massage makes the fibers felt together even tighter, and the cone is now strong enough to manipulate by hand.

But the cones must be even stronger than this, so she puts them through a final hardening stage that shrinks and tightens the fur fibers to the maximum.

At last, the fragile cone that came out of the forming machine becomes the desired hat size.

Tearing the felt by hand is now impossible.

After the cones are dyed, they're placed on a crown machine.

Here he works the top of the cone and makes the felt more flexible.

Another machine softens the brim.

Together, the machines form the cone into more of a hat shape.

After soaking the cone again, a worker puts it on a wet blocker machine.

Its brass fingers secure and stretch out the felt while it forces a crown shape into the hat body.

Then he puts the hat body into a hat sucker or vacuum that sucks out most of the water.

He then sets the hat bodies aside to dry for 24 hours.

Up next, we'll see how these hat bodies are transformed into classic stetson hats.

Making a stetson hat takes almost as much work now as it did since the early 1900s.

Every hat made is still handled from start to finish by hand.

Even some of the machines used are the same as in the past.

The stetson hat is an icon of the american cowboy lifestyle.

A worker steams a hat body to make it supple.

He puts it into a blocker machine with brass fingers that secure it in place.

He steams it again, then inserts a wooden block and presses it into the crown.

This gives the hat a specific head size.

He puts another hat into the blocker, this time making another hat size.

This is called blocking a hat.

Blocking transforms the brim diameter and the crown from an almost shapeless cut of felt into a more solid body and precise hat size.

A worker puts the blocked hat on a brim stiffener which applies shellack.

This shellack gives the brim extra firmness, making it easier to shape and style.

He completes the brim-stiffening operation and readies the correct number of hats to fill an order.

A worker hangs up the hats for a natural air dry.

Two days later, a worker inserts blocks into the hat, which are color-coded for size.

The blocks fit the hat on a pouncing machine that gently spins and sands the felt.

This unsanded felt gets buffed until the hat ends up with the smoothest finish possible.

Then a worker puts the hat onto a hydraulic crown press.

Inside it, he places a piece of ink transfer paper and a heated aluminum mold.

He lowers the press and applies the exact amount of pressure needed to mold a specific shape into the crown.

On this particular hat, the press imprints the logo inside.

Now the crown has a distinct shape.

A worker then puts the hat on a brim cutter and holds it down flat with a cutting guide.

She cuts the brim to the required dimension and removes the excess felt and the guide.

A worker then puts the hat into a brim flanger-- an aluminum mold that heats and shapes the brim.

He then puts the hat onto an identical wooden shape and covers it to keep its form while cooling.

Once cooled, this hat will keep its symmetrical curves that will make it so distinctively western.

A worker then marks the center of the hat.

She lines up a leather sweatband with the chalk mark and sews it in along the bottom edge of the crown.

She then folds the sweat band in and makes sure the hat is perfect.

She ties the classic ribbon band into a knot and secures it around the outside of the hat.

She trims the ribbon to the appropriate size, which completes the work on the exterior of the hat.

Then another worker puts it into a holder and peels up the sweatband.

She places a lining inside the hat, applying drops of glue all the way around to keep it in place.

She then puts the hat inside a box for shipping anywhere in the world.

Authentic stetson hats.

Looking good, partner!


Toothpicks
Acrylic Bathtubs
Helicopters
Beer

Today on "how it's made"...

Toothpicks...

Acrylic bathtubs...

Helicopters...

And beer.

Some people use them to hold hors d'oeuvres together.

Kids make scale models of famous buildings and bridges out of them.

And some people actually use them for their primary purpose-- to remove food caught between their teeth.

What are we talking about?

Why, the humble toothpick, of course.

Logs-- lots of birch logs are delivered to this factory.

They're the raw material from which toothpicks will be made.

The heavy logs are lifted by grippers and placed into a debarker.

Bark isn't part of the toothpick-fabrication process and is recovered by this machine.

But the bark isn't thrown away.

It's sold to a neighboring factory where it will be used as fuel.

The debarker works in two steps.

With two passes, it produces a log roll that's perfectly cylindrical and easier to mill.

This log is being transported to the next processing stage.

This unraveling machine unravels the log as if it were a roll of paper, cutting it with 12 fine blades each .

04 of an inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide.

These same blades will be used later to cut toothpicks.

Then these 12 blades, positioned side by side on the unraveling machine, will form rolls of strips called "billets".

These tiny cutters are used to trim the ends of the toothpicks.

Knives placed here and there on the machine thin the ends of the toothpicks.

The roller rolls up the cut strips, forming a billet.

Completed strips, or billets, are taken out manually.

Each billet weighs 4 pounds.

The billets are carried to the puncher, the flat-toothpick puncher cuts the billet strips into small, equal-sized pieces.

The cut pieces come out at this end of the machine.

The punch works very rapidly.

Knives come down 2,000 times per minute to cut a total of 8,000 toothpicks in just 60 seconds.

Cut toothpicks fall into this chute, then into a container.

At this stage, they're soft.

They have to be hardened in a dryer for four hours at 250 degrees fahrenheit.

Then the toothpicks are transferred to the polisher.

Talcum powder and friction help make the toothpicks perfectly smooth.

This operation takes four hours.

Toothpicks exit the polisher and pass through this sifter, which filters out broken ones.

Those in good condition continue on to an air-blower system.

Damaged ones are rejected.

Perfect toothpicks are placed onto two conveyers by an air-blowing system.

Drums at the end of the conveyors assure quantity distribution, then they're carried to the automatic packagers.

This machine counts the toothpicks.

Boxes are made up, ready for filling.

The number of toothpicks included in each box matters.

The packager is calibrated to place 650 toothpicks in each container, and it produces about 1,150 boxes an hour.

It handles 747,500 toothpicks an hour.

Some toothpicks are individually wrapped for distribution to restaurants and airlines.

This machine wraps 1,200 toothpicks per minute.

It automatically wraps, glues, and cuts the paper.

This facility can manufacture more than 20 million toothpicks every day.

And it all started from several birch logs.

Bathing daily is a relatively new phenomenon, historically speaking.

People used to take baths only when necessary.

Today whiling away the afternoon in the tub is more than a way to wash our bodies.

With bubbles and bath oils, it can be an experience in luxury.

Modern bathtubs look nothing like tubs of the middle ages or those wooden tubs we see in western films.

To achieve supreme comfort, the designer explores new shapes via computer and design software, tools which make for a speedy review of various shapes.

Then a model is produced.

This one, produced on a 1/6 scale, is made of cardboard.

But other models can be made of clay, polystyrene, or by stereolithography.

Manufacturing begins with an acrylic sheet.

It is heated to about 390 degrees fahrenheit with ceramic elements.

The sheet becomes soft and malleable.

So that it takes the form of the mold, thousands of tiny holes in the shell suction the sheet by vacuum.

The mold must cool before it can be opened.

Powerful ventilators blow air directly onto the mold, lowering the temperature to 170 degrees in 4 to 6 minutes.

The ventilators are then withdrawn.

Then the shell is easily removed from the mold.

It weighs a mere 35 pounds.

To make a tub in another shape, they change the mold.

They put in another acrylic sheet.

The sheet is heated on the ceramic and fiberglass mold, the little holes vacuum out air, and the job is done.

The molded acrylic sheet is not sturdy enough to be filled with water, so it must be reinforced with fiberglass.

This is the fiberglass.

Mixed with resin, it is blown onto the mold by a robotic unit.

Stored in reservoirs, the resin is carried to the robot by pumps.

Here it produces a chemical reaction between the fiberglass and the resin, which produces a reinforced shell.

Laminating is one of the most important steps.

With brush and roller, they eliminate all air bubbles that could weaken the tub.

This makes the fiberglass resin adhere perfectly to the acrylic shell.

The process takes 75 minutes.

The shell is then transported to the milling department.

The shell is dry and hard.

They can extract it manually, but here they use digitally controlled machines.

The operation begins with the trimming of the edges of the bathtub.

During this process, the robot will pierce openings for the drains, the whirlpool jets, and the air jets for the overflow and for ambient light.

The bathtub, almost completed, is now sent to another workshop.

They can now install the pump, the piping, and the blower.

These last operations are done manually.

The pump is installed for the whirlpool system, as well as the pvc pipes, whose joints have been hermetically sealed to prevent any leaks.

Finally, to make sure that everything is functioning well, each bathtub undergoes a water test.

The tub is finally ready.

After 13 steps and anywhere from three to five hours of work, depending on the type of tub.

It almost invites you to climb in.

In the world of aeronautics, the helicopter is the ideal go-anywhere machine.

Unlike airplanes, choppers can move in almost any direction and take off and land straight up and down.

Now that we've "coptered" your attention, let's see what goes into building these whirlybirds.

Man has always wanted to fly.

And the versatility of the helicopter has allowed him to reach unexpected heights.

Plans for a helicopter are created with catia 3-d design-assisting computer software.

It takes 700 hours of work between the drawing stage and the assembly of the pattern.

The helicopter is made of carbon fiber, a composite material lighter and stronger than steel, protected by two layers of green plastic.

The fiber is cut with a blade controlled by ultrasound.

They lay on several thicknesses of fiber to make the rear fuselage.

The green light of a laser helps position the parts.

Then with a heat gun, they apply a beehive web which increases the solidity of the structure.

But the carbon fiber is still soft.

To harden, it must be baked under pressure for 10 hours in this autoclave oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit.

The pieces exit the oven and head for machining.

The door of the motor housing is kept in a cutting jig and is shaped with a manual shaper.

Before installing the parts, they strike the carbon fiber with a resonance hammer to detect any faults.

The electrical harness is mounted on a pattern before being installed in the aircraft.

This particular helicopter has 2,570 yards of wiring, but others can have almost 6 miles.

The wiring will be connected to the flight-instruments panel, the brain of the helicopter.

This aircraft has 9,964 rivets fastened with a gun and a ram.

They also apply a sealant to prevent corrosion-creating humidity.

They now assemble the helicopter's rear fuselage.

Piece by piece, the aircraft takes shape.

They will install mechanical components later.

The motor arrives.

This one weighs 260 pounds and has to be carefully handled.

Among the other parts to be installed is the circular plate on which the blades will be attached.

Safety is primary.

The screw-nut holes are perforated, allowing for the insertion of the brake cable.

This tightly braided metal wire prevents the nut from loosening, due to strong vibrations.

Now they bolt on the four blades, which makes the helicopter fly.

Weighing 90 pounds each, they're made of composite materials and an aluminum alloy.

They're attached to the main rotor.

The dashboard is installed in the cockpit, and all the wires are hooked up.

Contact is established, and all is functioning properly.

The last step-- finishing the interior of the craft.

They install seats, safety belts, the consoles, bulkheads, windows and doors, as well as the trimmings.

The helicopter is almost completed, but it still has to be painted.

When done, the helicopter is towed outside the assembly hangar.

Flight tests are performed to make sure that mechanical and electrical components are functioning properly.

It requires an average of 110 days to assemble the more than 3,000 parts of a helicopter like this one, and they turn out almost 185 units each year.

These 3-ton engines are capable of reaching speeds of 140 knots and flying at a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet.

Beer has been around for as long as civilization itself.

Historical records show that ancient peoples made beer with barley, hops, water, and yeast.

We still use the same ingredients, but as you'll see, today's production technology is far more complex.

Beer has been drunk since 4,000 b.c. in mesopotamia.

The sikaru made it as a sacred beverage from grains but without hops.

The gauls and the celts drank a beverage made with barley, wheat, and rye.

During the crusades, europeans discovered spices and flavored the beverage with cinnamon and laurel.

In the 15th century, nordic peoples used hops as a spice, giving rise to the beer we know today.

Beer is a fermented beverage made with cereals and water.

The company has its own water-filtration plant.

It will be refiltered before being used to eliminate chlorine.

This materials tanks can hold 21,000 gallons of water.

Between 11 and 16 tons of malt and another grain are added.

They use dark malt, which has been heat-treated to a high temperature.

The mixture will spend two hours here.

An agitator prevents malt husks from settling to the bottom of the tank.

Turbulence from the pumps during the transfer causes the formation of this protein foam.

The wort is in the process of being extracted and will be boiled.

About five hours have passed since the brewing process began.

Here they draw off a sample.

They will make other control tests at various stages of brewing.

This is the draff, a solid residue extracted from the wort.

It will be used as cattle feed.

Here is a close-up view of the draff.

Then the liquid is filtered.

Here's the filtration tank where the wort is separated from the malt husks.

A sample is withdrawn from the wort heater to verify the density of sugars and the quality of the wort.

Now another ingredient--  the hops-- is added into the wort heater.

The hops impart the bitterness and aroma particular to beer.

The hops looks like this.

They can now start the brewing.

In the control room, an operator handles the data-control system of the brewing process.

They add in the yeast, which starts off the fermentation.

This process lasts between 7 and 10 days.

This foam indicates that fermentation has begun, and sugars will now transform into alcohol.

Each fermentation tank is computer-controlled to maintain a specific temperature.

During fermentation, chemical reactions create the scum that we see.

Now aged for three weeks, the beer is almost finished.

We see here the bottling tanks.

The beer has to be filtered once more.

Exiting these filters, the wort is clarified, then rid of the components responsible for the cloudiness of the beer.

Here's the beer filtered a second time...

And finally finished, as a clear product.

Used bottles are now washed.

After their wash cycle, the bottles have become sterilized.

Empty bottles arrive on this plate, ready to be filled.

About 1,000 bottles a minute are filled while on the move.

Then they pass to the capper before being sent to the pasteurizer.

Only two steps remain.

Labels are glued onto the bottles, then they're sent by conveyor to be put in cases.

Made from water and cereal grains, the beer is now ready to be consumed and enjoyed.