How It's Made

Narrator: TODAY ON "HOW IT'S MADE"...

BALL BEARINGS...

ELECTRICAL WIRES...

LOST WAX CASTING...

AND AUTOMATED MACHINES.

WITH ALL THE HIGH-TECH HOOPLA THESE DAYS,

THE LOWLY BALL BEARING GETS FORGOTTEN.

BUT MANY MACHINE PARTS NEED BALL BEARINGS TO ROTATE.

THEY'RE IN HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES, INDUSTRIAL MACHINES,

AND CAR ENGINE PARTS SUCH AS ALTERNATORS AND FANS.

THIS IS WHAT'S CALLED

A DEEP GROOVE RADIAL BALL BEARING.

IT HAS STEEL BALLS THAT MOVE INSIDE TRACKS CALLED RACEWAYS.

THE RACEWAYS ARE CARVED INTO A SET OF HEAVY-DUTY STEEL RINGS.

THE BALLS ARE MADE OF THE SAME TYPE OF STEEL.

THEY FIRST PREPARE TO SHAPE THE RINGS

TO THE RIGHT THICKNESS.

THEY INSERT THE INNER RING INTO THE OUTER RING.

THE SET THEN PASSES THROUGH A GRINDER

THAT ALTERS THE WIDTH TO THE CORRECT THICKNESS.

A GAUGE CHECKS THE WIDTH OF EACH RING AS IT EXITS.

NOW THEY SEPARATE THE INNER AND OUTER RINGS

IN ORDER TO GRIND THEIR OUTER CIRCUMFERENCE

ON SEPARATE MACHINES.

THE OUTER RING ENTERS THE GRINDER,

WHICH SHAPES ITS OUTER SURFACE

TO A PRECISE ROUNDNESS AND DIAMETER.

A WATER-BASED LIQUID KEEPS THE RING FROM OVERHEATING,

WHICH WOULD CAUSE WARPING.

THE RING EXITS THE GRINDER

THROUGH A GAUGE THAT CHECKS THE DIAMETER.

NEXT, THE OUTER RING'S RACEWAY GOES FOR GRINDING.

ABRASIVE STONE WHEELS WITH AN OIL COOLANT

SHAPE THE SURFACE TO PRECISELY THE CORRECT ROUNDNESS AND SIZE.

THE INNER RING AND RACEWAY GO THROUGH A SIMILAR MACHINE.

NOW THE RINGS GO FOR POLISHING.

AN ABRASIVE STONE LUBRICATED WITH OIL

POLISHES THE STEEL SURFACE UNTIL YOU CAN SEE A REFLECTION.

HERE'S THE BEFORE AND AFTER.

NEXT STOP -- WASHING.

THEY COAT THE RINGS WITH THICK OIL

AND A FINE STONE GRIT.

THEY CLEAN THE RACEWAYS WITH KEROSENE.

ELSEWHERE IN THE PLANT,

THEY CLASSIFY THE STEEL BALLS ACCORDING TO SIZE.

THESE BALLS STARTED OUT AS STEEL WIRE.

A MACHINE CUT THEM INTO PIECES

AND A DIE PUNCHED THEM INTO ROUGH BALLS.

THOSE ROUGH BALLS GO INTO A GRINDER,

WHICH REMOVES THE BUMPS.

THEN OTHER MACHINES ROUND THEM OUT

AND GIVE THEM A MIRROR FINISH.

THIS ENTIRE PROCESS TAKES A FEW DAYS.

THE BALLS GO THROUGH A FURNACE TO HARDEN.

THEN THEY GET A BATH IN CLEANING SOLVENT.

AFTER SEVERAL QUALITY CHECKS,

THE FINISHED BALLS GO INTO HOPPERS.

THE HOPPERS LOAD ONTO THE AUTOMATIC ASSEMBLY MACHINE.

THE BALL FEEDER SENDS THE BALLS THROUGH TUBES

TO A BALL PUSHER THAT FEEDS THE CORRECT QUANTITY OF BALLS

INTO THE RACEWAYS

OF THE NOW-REASSEMBLED INNER AND OUTER RINGS.

A BALL DIVIDER POSITIONS THE BALLS EVENLY

AROUND THE RACEWAYS.

NEXT COMES THE BALL CAGE,

A METAL CAGE THAT RETAINS THE BALLS IN POSITION

AROUND THE RACEWAYS.

THE FIRST MACHINE INSTALLS HALF OF THE CAGE,

THE HALF WITH RIVET HOLES.

THE NEXT MACHINE CAREFULLY POSITIONS

THE OTHER HALF OF THE CAGE, THE HALF WITH RIVETS.

THE MACHINE TEST-SPINS THE BEARING,

THEN RIVETS THE TWO HALVES OF THE BALL CAGE TOGETHER.

THE BEARING IS NOW FULLY ASSEMBLED.

NOW IT GOES INTO A SOLVENT BATH,

THEN TO A SERIES OF AUTOMATED QUALITY-CONTROL TESTS.

THIS NOISE-VIBRATION TESTER

MAKES SURE THE BALL BEARING OPERATES QUIETLY.

SOME TYPES OF BEARINGS ARE LUBRICATED WITH GREASE.

A MACHINE SQUIRTS GREASE EVENLY INTO THE BEARINGS' RACEWAYS,

THEN INSERTS A RUBBER SEAL TO CONTAIN THE GREASE.

A FINAL QUALITY-CONTROL TEST --

AN AUTOMATED SCALE TOSSES OUT ANY BUM BEARINGS

THAT AREN'T THE REQUIRED WEIGHT.

THE GOOD ONES MOVE ON TO THE LASER,

WHICH MARKS THEM WITH INFORMATION

SUCH AS THE PART NUMBER AND THE TRADEMARK.

Narrator: WHAT IS GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD?

SCIENTISTS MANIPULATE THE GENES IN CROP SEEDS

TO INCREASE YIELD

OR TO MAKE THE CROP MORE RESISTANT

TO DISEASE OR INSECTS.

THERE'S A WORLDWIDE DEBATE

OVER WHETHER THIS MANIPULATION OF NATURE POSES A RISK

TO OUR HEALTH OR TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

WE'RE SO USED TO THEM THAT WE BARELY NOTICE

THAT ELECTRICAL WIRES ARE ALL AROUND US.

THEY'RE IN AERIAL AND UNDERGROUND CABLES

RUNNING ALONG OUR STREETS AND TO OUR HOMES.

THEY'RE BEHIND OUR WALLS

AND INSIDE OUR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES.

TO MAKE COLOR-CODED ELECTRICAL WIRES,

THEY USE WHAT'S CALLED ROD,

MADE OF EITHER SOLID COPPER OR SOLID ALUMINUM.

THEY FEED THE ROD INTO A MACHINE THAT DRAWS IT OUT

THROUGH A SERIES OF LUBRICATED PULLEYS AND DIES --

STRETCHING, LENGTHENING, AND THINNING IT OUT...

...AND EVENTUALLY WINDING IT ONTO A LARGE BOBBIN.

WHAT WAS ONCE A ROD 4/10 OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER

IS NOW JUST 8/100 OF AN INCH,

THE WIDTH OF ABOUT A DOZEN HUMAN HAIRS.

THEY LOAD THE BOBBIN

ONTO WHAT'S CALLED A STRANDING MACHINE.

THEY COLD-WELD THE END OF ONE BOBBIN TO ANOTHER,

GUARANTEEING AN UNINTERRUPTED FLOW

ONCE THEY START UP THE MACHINE.

AT HIGH SPEED,

THE STRANDING MACHINE TWISTS SEVEN WIRES TOGETHER,

FORMING AN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR,

ALSO CALLED A BEAR CONDUCTOR.

THIS IS A LOW-VOLTAGE CONDUCTOR --

UNDER 1,000 VOLTS --

THE KIND YOU FIND IN THE CABLES

THAT RUN ELECTRICITY TO YOUR HOME.

BEAR CONDUCTORS NEED TO BE INSULATED

SO THE PEOPLE HANDLING THEM WON'T GET AN ELECTRIC SHOCK.

A PLASTIC EXTRUSION MACHINE

COATS THE CONDUCTOR WITH POLYETHYLENE OR PVC.