All language subtitles for S06E06 - Escalator Handrails; Highlighters; Guitar Strings; Wigs (576p AMZN WEB-DL x265 Garshasp)_track4_[eng]

Narrator:
Today on "How it's made"...

Escalator handrails...

...Highlighter pens...

...Guitar strings...

...And wigs.

The escalator was invented
Over 100 years ago

As an amusement park ride.

The moving staircase was soon
Equipped with a moving handrail

For safety reasons,

But those early handrails
Were driven by oily chains,

Leaving passengers
With greasy hands.

We get a cleaner ride
On today's escalators,

And if we want thrills,
We try a roller coaster.

An escalator's handrail

Moves at the same speed
As the stairs.

This makes the trip up safer

Because you have something
To hold on to the entire way.

To make an escalator handrail,

A machine called an extruder

Pulls synthetic rubber
Up into it.

A turning screw
Inside the extruder

Forces the rubber through a die

The way a pasta maker
Squeezes out spaghetti.

4- to 6-inch-wide rubber strips

Roll out
Into a tank of water to cool

Because the heat
From the extruder

Could alter
Their molecular structure.

Now the rubber strips
Move over rollers

That are part of a mechanical
Measuring system.

There's a little indicator
On the roller

That gauges the width
And thickness of the rubber

As it moves across.

Over at the splitter machine,

Small round knives
Slice rubberized cotton

The same width
As the rubber strips.

Then a mechanical puller
Unrolls material

From four different spools.

There are two streams
Of rubberized fabric --

One stream
Of the synthetic rubber

Which came out
Of the extruder earlier

And one of rubberized
Cable wiring.

They merge and stick together

As they travel over
A big steel roller.

An unwinder peels away
A plastic liner

From the now four-plied strip.

Next, a worker places
A piece of rubberized fabric

And one of synthetic rubber

On either side
Of the four-plied strip.

He presses everything
Except the strip of rubber

Around a u-shaped
Aluminum former.

With a piece of steel,

He bears down on the shape
So the layers stick together.

Then he brushes tack cement
On the outside

And pulls that piece of
Synthetic rubber at the bottom

Up around it.

He folds the rim down,

And, using a hand roller,
He seals its edges.

Now the handrail
Has taken shape,

But it's not strong enough,

So a worker places it
In a molding press.

He positions a steel form
Inside the handrail

So that it holds its shape.

The top part of the mold lowers,

And the handrail bakes
Under high pressure

At 350 degrees fahrenheit.

10 to 15 minutes later,
The mold lifts,

And a chemical reaction called
Vulcanization has occurred.

The layers have been laminated,

And the handrail
Is now strong enough.

The last step is to trim away
The flash or excess material.

Here's the latest way
To make an escalator handrail.

A puller unwinds brass-coated
Steel wires from spools,

Drawing them,

Along with thermoplastic
Urethane and polyester fabric,

Through the dies of an extruder.

What comes out is a strip

Of plastic-encased wires
And sliders.

The handrail shape
Passes through measuring devices

That check its dimensions.

Now they splice the ends of
Two plastic handrails together

To form an endless loop.

Using a roller, a worker presses

The wires and plastic sliders
Of the inner carcass together.

As he rolls, he blasts hot air
Into the splice with a heat gun.

This softens the plastic
So that it melds together.

He covers it with a piece
Of thermoplastic urethane

And, again, uses a heat gun
To join the pieces.

He wipes it clean with alcohol.

Then he heats it up in a mold
For a minute or two.

The spliced section
Melts together,

And then cool water hardens it.

There's no seam line where
The handrail could break.

It's just
One long, continuous piece.

And that's the inside story
On the escalator handrail --

Something to think about
When you're on your way up.

Narrator: the highlighter pen
Was invented in the 1960s

Simply to get your attention.

When text is shaded
With transparent, vivid inks

In hot pinks or warm yellows,

Our eye goes directly to it.

Marketers have always known
That color has impact,

And it's a principle highlighted
By these pens.

Highlighters come in lots of
Shades and colors -- even neon.

This is how a highlighter pen
Gets its start.

A vacuum siphons plastic pellets
Into this container.

The red ones
Will tint the whole mix

As it melts
Inside a heating tube.

A mechanized steel screw

Pushes the melted plastic
Into pen molds.

The force applied is equal
To the weight of 350 elephants.

Cooled by water,

The newly-molded pen barrels
Spill into a container below.

Now some clear-colored
Pen barrels

Drop onto a conveyor track,

And ink reservoirs

That look like pieces of chalk
But are made of polyester

Drop down a shaft,

And a robotic arm thrusts them
Into the plastic barrels.

The back-end plug
Goes in the same way.

The plugs fall to a robotic arm,

And it pushes them
Into the back of the pen.

Now a chemist
Drops a concentrate of dye

Into a beaker of water.

Just over 1/3 of an ounce
Or 10 drops

Is enough to turn it
Fire-engine red.

A humectant,
Already in the water,

Will keep the ink from drying
Out when it's in the pen.

Next he measures
The ink's thickness.

He lowers a steel probe into it,
And the probe turns.

A gauge measures the speed.

If the probe turns too fast,
It means the ink is too thin.

If it revolves too slowly,
Then the mix is too thick.

At four revolutions per minute,

The ink is just
The right consistency.

A vacuum pump sucks the ink
Into six-inch steel needles,

And a robotic arm
Pushes the needles

Into the polyester reservoirs,
Injecting them with ink.

Now we arrive
At the next part of assembly.

A combination of mechanical
Vibrations and compressed air

Drive a conveyor belt
Carrying the pen nibs.

The nibs fall into the clutch
Of a mechanical claw

Which drops them
To a circular pusher.

It shoves the nibs onto
The pens, and they interlock.

The impact floods the reservoir
Inside the pen with ink.

Now it's time to top it all off.

A conveyor transports caps
To a mechanical gripper.

The gripper slides them
Over the nibs.

Over on another assembly line,

They're making
A three-in-one marker.

A conveyor bowl funnels smaller
Ink reservoirs into a shaft,

And they drop to a robotic arm.

The arm stuffs the reservoirs
Into the small barrels,

And then a needle
Injects them with ink,

Quickly saturating the
Reservoirs with vibrant color.

The next robotic arm shoves
A receptacle onto the barrel,

And then another robot
Presses a polyester nib onto it.

A robot now slips
A hood-like cap over the nib.

Another mechanical arm

Suctions up the fuchsia-colored
Mini markers

And transfers them
To a triangular case.

Down the line,
Another suctioning arm

Picks up a red mini marker
And deposits it in the triangle.

A steel probe presses it in.

Finally, a yellow-colored marker
Completes the triangle.

Now a robot
Uses an electrical charge

To pick up metallic confetti.

When the charge is turned off,

The confetti drops into the
Triangle, adding some glitter.

Next a suctioning robot

Drops the top part of the
Triangle onto the lower case,

And a metal cylinder
Presses it shut.

Another suctioning arm carries
The three-in-one marker

To a conveyor belt
Which unloads it into a box.

This three-in-one highlighter

Makes it easier
To color-code text --

A different color
For each theme.

Now an electrical conveyor
Moves the highlighters

To a mechanical arm.

The arm flips it around,

Positioning it
For the next step.

A squeegee silk-screens
A logo onto it.

I wonder how they came up
With that one.

Now the highlighters enter
An ultraviolet-light chamber.

The light bonds the ink
To the case.

And finally,
The ultimate test --

Plastic grippers guide markers
As they make circles.

700 to 1,000 circles means
This particular production line

Will definitely stand out.

Narrator: playing the guitar
Is all about vibrations.

The guitar
Uses vibrating strings

To generate the tones
That the audience hears.

Strings under tension vibrate at
A specific frequency or pitch,

So if the song that
You're hearing is in tune,

It's because those guitar
Strings are vibrating correctly.

A good set of strings
Is behind many a soulful tune.

They're an important part
Of a guitar's sound.

To make a guitar string, they
Start with a steel core wire

That they examine
Under a zoom stereomicroscope.

They magnify it 100 times,

Looking for flaws
In the hexagonal wire.

Next, they measure
The core wire's diameter

With a digital micrometer.

It has to be
Just the right size.

Now they coil the wrap wire made
Of nickel-plated steel

Around posts
On the instron testing machine.

This machine stretches the wire
Until it breaks.

It's a test of its ability
To perform under tension.

A computer measures the distance

And the amount of load
The wire was under

Before it broke

To determine how much tension
This string can take.

Now the core wire
Undergoes a twist test.

They loop the wire onto a hook

In a machine
Called a torsion tester.

It spins rapidly, twisting
The core wire until it breaks.

This is a test of the wire's
Strength and elasticity.

These plastic hoppers
Are full of ball ends.

This machine is called
A ball-end sorter.

Hollow pistons move up and down,

Selecting one ball end
At a time.

This ensures that only those
Of the proper size

Will get through.

The ball ends
Shoot out of the pistons

Into a bucket underneath.

From here they'll go
To the core-string machine.

A mechanism
Places the ball ends on a pin

As they drop from a hopper.

Rollers feed the core wire
Into a clamping guide

Which aligns it
With the ball end.

Then the pin spins,

Twisting the wire into
A neat loop around the ball end.

This is the twisting action
In slow motion.

The core strings
With the ball ends now attached

Drop into a repository.

Then a worker hooks a ball end
With its core wire

Onto the string winder,

And he loops bronze wrap wire
Around the core wire.

A string-winding carriage
Guides the bronze wire

Down the length of the core wire
As it wraps around.

The electrically powered winder
Spins the core wire,

And it's that action
That grabs the wrap wire

As the carriage ensures
That it gets wrapped neatly.

Computerized sensors monitor

The speed
That the string is wound at,

As well as the tension.

The winder applies
A critical amount of tension

As it wraps the bronze wiring
Around the core.

They're bundled up like straw,
144 wires to the bunch.

Guitar strings
Are also made from nylon.

They hook the nylon
Core material onto a winder,

Pulling it down
From a big spool.

Next, they loop silver-plated
Copper wrap wire onto the nylon.

The hook spins,
And this coils the wrap wire

Around the nylon string
Binding it.

Again, a carriage system,
Run by an electric motor,

Ensures that everything
Falls into place.

A worker removes the strings
And hangs them on a rack.

Gravity causes the strings
To slide into a station

Where workers coil them and then
Place them on a conveyor belt.

Further down the line, another
Worker puts them in a bag

That has a gas-neutralizing
Barrier built into the plastic

To prevent corrosion.

And now these strings
Are ready for some playing.

Narrator: throughout history,
Wigs were status symbols --

Hence the term "Bigwig."

One early wig-making technique

Was to use goatskin
To simulate a scalp

And then hook hair into it
With an embroidery needle.

Today, animal skin
Is no longer used.

These days,
Wigs can look so real

That no one would notice.

To make a custom wig,

A wig master measures the
Client's head from all angles,

Because heads
Come in many shapes and sizes.

He wraps her head
In cellophane,

Twisting it just under
The earlobes.

Next, he sticks filament tape
All over the cellophane wrap.

He layers it four times
To make a cast.

He lifts the tape and
Cellophane cast from her head

And places it
On a wig block,

A head shape
Made of canvas or wood.

Using a grease pencil,
He traces around the cast,

Making a pattern of the client's
Hairline on the wig block.

The wig master then cuts pieces
Of plain blue paper.

He pins it on the wig block
Within the pattern lines.

The paper will prevent light

From reflecting into his eyes
As he works.

Now he places a large-sized
Polyester-and-cotton lace

On the block

And cuts it
To pencilled outline.

He pins a finer lace
From front to back,

Pleating the edges with pins.

He pulls open a drawer
Full of real and fake hair,

And it's hard to tell
The difference between them.

He chooses a tail of synthetic
Hair labelled "Venetian blond."

Pieces of pink and orange
Synthetic hair

Will be blended into
The venetian blond tresses

To create dramatic highlights.

This is the tool for the job.

It's a giant comb
With rows of sharp steel teeth.

It's called a hackle.

The wig master places the
Venetian blond synthetic hair

Between the teeth of the hackle

And sets the bright pink
And orange locks on top.

Now he repeatedly drags the hair
Through the hackle.

He loses some strands
In the comb,

But those are usually
The weaker ones.

This is called hackling,

And the action gets
Progressively more vigorous.

He twists and twirls the tail as
He pulls it through the hackle.

This is actually dangerous work.

One wrong move

And he could pierce his hand
On the barbed comb.

Once the hair is blended,
He cuts it in two.

Then he presses the hair
Into little metal pins

On a leather holding card.

The pins on a top card interlock
With the bottom one.

He pulls hair out of the holding
Cards a few strands at a time.

With a small needle
That looks like a fishing hook,

He knots the strands
Into the lace

Beginning at the nape.

This is called ventilating.

It's very similar
To rug hooking.

In fact, it may be why toupees
Are often referred to as rugs.

Ventilating is labor-intensive.

He spends a minimum of 50 hours

Knotting the thousands
Of strands

That it takes to make a wig.

Partway into the job,
He combs out any tangles

And flounces the hair
To make sure it moves naturally.

Wigs for film and tv
Are usually made by hand

Rather than machine

Because the result
Is more authentic-looking.

Because the camera tells all,

The wigs need to look
As real as possible.

He weaves the front of the wig
One strand at a time,

Because the front hairline
Always gets the most scrutiny.

Now it's time for the fitting
And the transformation.

The wig needs
A little styling...

...And he trims the ends.

He cuts away the extra lace,
And voilà.

She's ready
To let her synthetic hair down

And get into her new role.

--captions by vitac--
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications, inc.

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