How It's Made

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

Narrator: COMPRESSION AND EXTENSION SPRINGS...

...MICRO DRILL BITS...

...SKIFFS...

...AND PAINTED GLASS BACKSPLASHES.

COILED WIRE SPRINGS ARE DESIGNED TO CHANGE SHAPE

WHEN WEIGHT IS ADDED OR REMOVED.

SOME COILS, SUCH AS COMPRESSION SPRINGS,

ARE MADE TO KEEP COMPONENTS APART.

OTHER TYPES OF COILS, LIKE EXTENSION SPRINGS,

HOLD THINGS TOGETHER WHILE THE SPRING EXPANDS AND CONTRACTS.

WHEN A LOAD IS APPLIED TO A COMPRESSION SPRING,

IT CONTRACTS, WHILE AN EXTENSION SPRING EXPANDS WHEN PULLED.

COMPRESSION AND EXTENSION SPRINGS

ARE MADE FROM STEEL WIRE.

THE DIAMETER AND QUALITIES OF THE WIRE VARIES,

DEPENDING ON THE USE OF THE SPRING.

SPOOLED ONTO A REEL, THE WIRE UNCOILS,

PULLED BY ROLLERS, WHICH LEAD TO A FORMING MACHINE.

GUIDE ROLLERS STEER THE WIRE, AS DOES THIS APERTURE.

MULTIPLE FEED ROLLERS PUSH THE WIRE

TOWARDS COMPUTERIZED FORMING TOOLS.

THE ROLLERS PAUSE, WHILE THE TOOLS DO THEIR WORK,

AND THEN RESUME TO SUPPLY WIRE FOR THE NEXT SPRING.

MEANWHILE, OTHER ROLLERS PUSH THE WIRE AROUND A MANDREL,

WHERE IT'S COILED INTO AN EXTENSION SPRING.

A SIDE-ARM CONTROLS THE DIAMETER,

WHILE ANOTHER TOOL CUTS IT TO LENGTH.

THE FORMING PROCESS HAS CAUSED INTERNAL STRESSES.

TO REMOVE THOSE STRESSES, THE SPRINGS ARE HEAT-TREATED.

AS THE SPRINGS MOVE OUT OF THE OVEN,

THEY TRAVEL THROUGH A COOLING CHAMBER.

THE HEATING AND CONTROLLED COOLING

IMPROVES THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES,

ALLOWING THE SPRINGS TO WITHSTAND REPEATED COMPRESSION.

WITH INTERNAL STRESSES RELIEVED,

IT'S TIME TO WORK ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE STEEL SPRINGS.

A RACK CONVEYER DIPS EXTENSION SPRINGS

INTO A VAT OF WATER-BASED PAINT.

THE PAINT SEEPS INTO THE CREVICES OF THE COILS,

PROVIDING EVEN PAINT COVERAGE.

THEN THE RACK CONVEYER TAKES THE PAINTED SPRINGS

ON A TEN-MINUTE LOOP THROUGH AN OVEN.

THIS STEP BAKES THE PAINT ONTO THE STEEL,

PROVIDING A CORROSION-RESISTANT FINISH.

THIS IS WHAT THE SPRINGS LOOK LIKE BEFORE AND AFTER PAINTING.

THESE TRUCK SUSPENSION SPRINGS ARE MADE DIFFERENTLY.

A MACHINIST HEATS THE END OF A STEEL ROD IN A FURNACE,

INSERTING IT BETWEEN FORMING TOOLS TO TAPER IT.

THIS TAPER WILL ALLOW THE COMPLETED SPRING TO SIT UPRIGHT.

NEXT, THE ENTIRE ROD GOES INTO A 1,796-DEGREE FURNACE.

ONCE THE ROD IN RED-HOT AND MALLEABLE,

IT EXITS THE FURNACE

AND IS TRANSFERRED TO THE FORMING MANDREL.

THE MANDREL SPINS TO WIND THE SOFT, STEEL WIRE,

TRANSFORMING THE STRAIGHT STEEL ROD INTO A SPRING.

THE SPRING IS PLACED IN A BUCKET AND LIFTED TO AN OIL BATH.

THE BATH QUENCHES AND HARDENS THE STEEL.

THEN THE SPRING TRAVELS THROUGH A FURNACE.

THE HEAT BURNS OFF QUENCHING OIL RESIDUE.

A TECHNICIAN INSERTS THE COMPRESSION SPRINGS

IN A REVOLVING FIXTURE,

ALLOWING THE ENDS OF THE SPRINGS TO EXTEND OUTWARD.

AS THE FIXTURE REVOLVES, GRINDING WHEELS REMOVE MATERIAL

TO FLATTEN THE EXPOSED ENDS.

THIS FLATTENED PROFILE IS ANOTHER WAY TO ENSURE

THAT THE SPRINGS WILL SIT UPRIGHT.

ONCE COMPLETE,

THE TECHNICIAN MEASURES THE HEIGHT OF THE SPRING

TO CONFIRM THAT THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF MATERIAL

HAS BEEN GROUND OFF.

THE GRINDING HAS MADE A SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCE.

THE NEXT MACHINE REMOVES SURFACE FLAWS.

AN OPERATOR PLACES THE SPRING INSIDE THE MACHINE.

AS THE SPRING SPINS,

A FINE, ABRASIVE STEEL SHOT SANDS AWAY IMPERFECTIONS.

YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE THIS STEP MAKES IN THE SPRING

ON THE RIGHT.

THE EXPOSURE TO HEAT HAS MADE THE STEEL WIRE MORE FLEXIBLE.

A TECHNICIAN PLACES THE WIRE IN A PRESS MACHINE

AND SETS THE COMPRESSION AND HEIGHT.

THE PRESS SQUEEZES THE COILS

UNTIL THE DESIRED AMOUNT OF COMPRESSION IS ACHIEVED.

AFTER THE SPRING HAS BEEN PAINTED,

THE COMPANY NAME AND MODEL INFORMATION

IS STAMPED ONTO THE SPRINGS.

IT TAKES TWO HOURS TO MAKE A SPRING,

AND NOW IT'S FINALLY READY FOR SOME FLEX TIME.

Narrator: THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS

MIGHT HAVE PICKED UP A POINTED ROCK

AND SPUN IT BETWEEN THEIR HANDS TO BORE A HOLE

IN SOMETHING THEY WANTED TO MODIFY.

TODAY, YOU CAN BUY DRILL BITS IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES.

DRILL BITS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH CARPENTRY,

BUT FROM ELECTRONICS TO SURGERY TOOLING,

THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF FIELDS

THAT REQUIRE ULTRA-THIN, HIGH-PERFORMANCE DRILL BITS.

THE PRODUCTION PROCESS BEGINS WITH LENGTHS

OF 100% CARBIDE CALLED BLANKS.

A DIAMOND GRINDING WHEEL

LUBRICATED WITH A SPECIALIZED CUTTING LIQUID

IS APPLIED TO A CHAMFERED EDGE ON ONE TIP OF THE BLANK.

THIS STEP REMOVES THE ROUGH EDGES LEFT

WHEN THE BLANKS WERE CUT DOWN TO SIZE.

A VIBRATING DEVICE ORGANIZES THE BLANKS INSIDE A ROTATING BOWL.

THE VIBRATING ACTION SHIFTS THE BLANKS INTO SINGLE FILE

SO THEY CAN PROCEED ONE-BY-ONE TO THE NEXT STEP.

THIS MACHINE IS CALLED A CENTERLESS GRINDER.

THE BLANKS MOVE BETWEEN TWO ROTATING DRUMS,

WHICH GRINDS THEM DOWN TO A SPECIFIED LENGTH.

THE BLANKS POUR OUT OF THE MACHINE

IMMERSED IN THE LUBRICATING FLUID.

AN OPERATOR SELECTS ONE AND PLACES IT

IN A QUALITY CONTROL GAUGE TO CHECK

THAT IT MEETS THE MANUFACTURER'S REQUIRED TOLERANCES.

THE BLANKS NOW ENTER A CNC ROLLOMATIC.

AN OPERATOR SETS UP THE TOOL AND PROGRAMS ITS WORK PROCESS.

A ROBOTIC AUTO-FEEDER PICKS UP THE BLANKS ONE-BY-ONE

FROM A SPECIALIZED PALETTE.

THE ROBOTIC ARMS PLACES EACH BLANK CAREFULLY

AND PRECISELY IN A WAITING CHUCK, OR COLLAR,

AND THEN MOVES THEM BACK INTO POSITION.

THE TOOL MOVES FORWARD, HOLDING THE BLANK PERFECTLY STILL

AS A PAIR OF WHEELS CLOSE IN.

LIQUID COOLANT POURS OVER THE BLANK

AS THE WHEELS PRECISION PINCH-GRIND

THE TIP OF THE BLANK,

GRINDING IT DOWN TO ABOUT 1/10 OF A MILLIMETER --

THE WIDTH OF A HUMAN HAIR.

IT'S A DELICATE PROCESS.

THE ROLLOMATIC PRODUCES 48 PIECES PER HOUR.

NEXT, A TECHNICIAN PLACES SMALL SHEETS OF PLASTIC FOIL IN A JIG.

THE FOIL IS SHIM STOCK,

COLOR-CODED ACCORDING TO ITS THICKNESS.

THE JIG RAISES THE METAL SUPPORT TO A SPECIFIED HEIGHT.

WHEN THE BLANK ADVANCES OVER THE SUPPORT,

A MARK LEFT IN THE BLUE INK DETERMINES

WHETHER THE METAL BLANK IS CENTERED.

ONCE COMPLETE, A TECHNICIAN USES A MAGNIFYING TOOL

TO FINE-TUNE THE PLACEMENT OF THE BLANK

AND ENSURE THAT IT'S PERFECTLY CENTERED.

THIS PROCESS CAN TAKE FOUR TO FIVE HOURS.

THE BLANK IS FINALLY READY FOR THE CRUCIAL FLUTING PROCESS

THAT WILL TRANSFORM IT FROM A CYLINDRICAL LENGTH OF CARBIDE

WITH A NARROW TIP INTO A MICRO DRILL BIT.

AFTER HOURS OF PREPARATION,

THIS OPERATION TAKES JUST A FEW SECONDS.

AN INDUSTRIAL GRINDING DIAMOND WHEEL

HAS SLICED A MICROSCOPIC GROOVE AT A PRECISE ANGLE.

THE TECHNICIAN INSERTS THE BIT, SHARP-END FIRST,

INTO A PRECISION MACHINING DEVICE.

A STEEL BUSHING WITH A BRASS INSERT

HOLDS THE TIP OF THE BIT IN PLACE

AS A CUTTING WHEEL SLICES AN ANGLED POINT.

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BIT BEFORE

AND AFTER FLUTING.

USING A MAGNIFYING DEVICE, THE TECHNICIAN CONDUCTS

A QUALITY CONTROL CHECK OF THE BIT.

AS THE SCREEN REVEALS THE FINELY-CUT FLUTE,

THE TECHNICIAN ENSURES THE TOOL'S PARAMETERS MEET

MANUFACTURING STANDARDS.

ONCE SUCH PARAMETER HAS TO DO WITH THE SHAPE OF THE FLUTE,

WHICH HAS A FORWARD TAPER.

THIS MEANS THE FLUE GROOVE BECOMES SHALLOWER

FROM TIP TO BASE AT A VERY PRECISE ANGLE.

THIS FEATURE SIMULTANEOUSLY STRENGTHENS THE TOOL

WHILE INCREASING THE CHIP FLOW ALONG THE GROOVE.

ALTHOUGH CARBIDE IS INCREDIBLY STRONG,

WHEN IT'S MILLED TO THE THICKNESS OF A HUMAN HAIR,

IT BECOMES FRAGILE.

NEEDLESS TO SAY,

CAREFUL PACKAGING IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

Narrator: A SKIFF IS A LIGHTWEIGHT MOTORBOAT

DESIGNED FOR USE ON SHALLOW WATER.

UNLIKE MOST BOATS THAT HAVE A V-SHAPED HULL,

A SKIFF'S HULL IS RELATIVELY FLAT,

ALLOWING IT TO SIT HIGH ABOVE THE WATER.

THIS TYPE OF BOAT IS KNOWN AS A POLING SKIFF.

IT'S DESIGNED WITH A PLATFORM SET OVER THE ENGINE,

WHICH PROVIDES FISHERMEN A LEDGE TO STAND ON

WHILE MOVING THE BOAT ALONG WITH A POLE.

A TECHNICIAN CLEANS THE HULL MOLD

AND COATS IT WITH A RELEASE AGENT,

THEN SPRAYS ON A GEL COATING.

THE GEL COATING FORMS THE GLOSSY OUTER LAYER OF THE BOAT.