29x09 - Foosball Tables, Marseille Soap, and Laguiole Pocket Knives

[bunniefuu]

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Narrator:
today on "how it's made"...

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Narrator: table football
was first patented

By a british inventor in 1923.

It became popular throughout
europe with leagues

Forming by the 1950s.

A decade later, an american
working in west germany

Brought the game to the u.s.,

Trademarking the german word
for it, foosball.

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In france, the game of foosball
is known as baby foot.

This company produces
ready-made,

As well as custom-made tables

Like this one
featuring biker players.

Production begins at a foundry,

Where workers melt
down bars of aluminum.

An injection-molding machine
shoots the molten aluminum

Into molds
in the shape of players.

A robot removes the casting
from the injection machine.

The mold yields four players,

Each one sporting
the manufacturer's name

On the front of his jersey.

A worker places each casting on
a press then, with one strike,

Separates the four players
and cuts off excess metal.

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A computer-guided machine drills

A hole in the center
of each player,

Through which the rod will pass.

Then the machine threads
a hole through the player's back

For the screw that secures
the player to the rod.

Another machine saws
a 2-millimeter gap

In the back to allow clearance
for a screwdriver

To tighten the player
onto the rod.

Once ready, the players move
to the foosball table factory,

Where a worker sprays
on a base coat of white paint.

Once that dries, workers
continue painting the players

But, now, using an airbrush.

They mask the player's body
to paint only his head.

The company offers
a selection of skin tones.

Then they mask the player
with another stencil,

Covering the skin and exposing
the shirt and socks.

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Next, they mask everything

Except the player's
head and feet.

A player can be brunette,
blonde or redhead.

They paint the shoes black then
the player's eyes and mouth.

Manufacturers construct
the table out of solid beech.

A computer-guided
milling machine profiles

The wood components,
drills the required holes,

And engraves the company name.

Workers then assemble the parts,
starting with the four sides,

Which connect with bolted
steel rods and glue.

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After closing up the ends
with wood panels,

Workers install
wood support bars

Which will reinforce
the table and,

After a goal, direct the ball
to the ball return tray.

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The table now goes
to the paint shop

Where workers either stain
the wood or leave it natural.

For this model,
they also spray red stain

Into the recessed
stripes and logo.

All tables receive
a finishing coat

Of transparent varnish
to protect the wood.

They install the sloped
ball-return panel.

When a player scores,
the ball rolls down the panel

To an aluminum ball-return tray.

After sliding the plywood table
bottom into place,

Workers turn the table
right-side up,

Mount the aluminum goal nets,

And the scoring units
right behind them.

Then they lay
the playing surface,

Made of green vinyl
on pressed wood,

On top of the wooden
support bars.

Wood trim around the perimeter
holds the surface in place.

A worker mounts the players
for each line onto a hollow

Stainless-steel rod.

Using a template to space them
correctly, he bolts each player

To the rod
then attaches a rubber bumper

To the players at each end

To prevent them from slamming
against the side walls.

He inserts a narrower
stainless-steel rod

Into the hollow bar
to make it telescopic.

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After preparing
eight rods of players,

A worker installs them
in the table.

The telescoping handle end
of the rod has spring-loaded

Bearing that fits
in a hole in the table.

He secures it from the outside.

After bolting the opposite end,
workers protect the top edge

Of the table
with a plastic trim.

After threading plastic handles
to the telescopic

End of the rods

And mounting the tables
on four sturdy, solid-wood legs,

This foosball table
is ready for kickoff.

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Narrator: marseille soap is
a vegetable oil-based soap

First handcrafted

In the port city
of marseille, france,

In the middle ages.

This gentle hypoallergenic
all-purpose block soap

Became prized across europe

For washing clothes, dishes,

Floors, and cleansing oneself.

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Marseille soap is crafted
from just

Four traditional ingredients

With no animal fats, colorants,
perfumes or preservatives.

It's still produced today
as it has been

For more than 600 years.

The four ingredients
are sea salt,

Water, on the right,
caustic soda

And either coconut oil,

Palm oil or, most often,

Olive pomace oil,

The second oil
extracted from olives

After they've been pressed
to extract virgin olive oil

For consumption.

A worker releases the required
quantities of oil

And caustic soda
into a cooking cauldron,

Then brings the mixture
to a boil

While stirring for 1 to 2 days.

The fatty acids in the oil react
to the alkaline caustic soda,

Producing a thick soap paste
containing glycerin,

A natural compound.

This transformation is known
as saponification.

Workers add more caustic soda

And cook to 248 degrees
fahrenheit for another day.

They wash the paste with
saltwater two or three times,

Each washing lasting half a day.

This removes
impurities and glycerin.

Without glycerin, the soap has
better detergent power

To remove grease stains
on fabric.

Next, over the course of a day,

The workers repeatedly rinse
the boiling soap paste

With freshwater.

Then they let it set for 2 days.

They reheat the paste
for about 10 minutes

At 158 degrees fahrenheit,

Just to resoften it enough
to be pumped

To a series of super heaters.

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The super heaters heat the paste
to 230 degrees fahrenheit,

Liquefying it.

As the liquid soap leaves
the last super heater,

It passes through a nozzle,

Which sprays it onto
the walls of an atomizer.

The atomizer cools the soap
under a vacuum,

Solidifying it into
a dry moldable consistency.

Motorized blades then scrape
the dried soap

From the atomizer walls.

The soap falls directly
into an extrusion machine,

Which works much
like a pasta maker.

The machine forces the soap
through small round dies

As revolving blades
chop it into noodles.

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As the soap noodles
fall into the conveyer belt,

The soap workshop chief
inspects the quality

By assessing the color,
the aroma, and the texture.

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At the company's in-house lab,

A technician conducts
quality-control tests

On samples drawn
from each production run.

In this test, he measures
the percentage of pure soap.

He weighs the sample,
then heats it

In a microwave oven
for 10 minutes

To evaporate all the moisture.

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This leaves only pure soap
without water.

He reweighs the sample
to calculate the percentage

Of pure soap
as well as the oil content,

Which must be 72%.

The factory sells a portion
of its marseille soap noodles

To companies
who mold their own soap bars.

It also molds a house brand
right here,

Compressing the noodles
into a h*m* paste

That extruding
the long continuous bar.

An automated guillotine slices
the bar into the selected shape.

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The conveyer belt ferries
the cubes

To the stamping machine,

Which stamps all six sides.

Each cube bears
the company's name and logo,

The soap's oil content,

And the savon de
marseille designation,

Attesting that this is
indeed authentic,

Traditionally made
marseille soap.

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Narrator: for centuries,
people have migrated back

And forth across
the french-spanish border.

The traditional
laguiole pocketknife is a result

Of the mixing of these cultures.

It's a blend of an arab-hispanic
knife, called the navaja,

With a southern french knife,
known as the capuchadou.

These are not pocketknives
for camping trips.

They're high end cutlery,

Perfect for slicing through
delicious french cheeses.

They feature the unmistakable
wavy pattern of damascus steel.

To recreate the legendary
metal known as damascus steel,

A cutler,
who is an artisan

Who specializes in knifemaking,

Stacks alternating layers
of nickel and carbon steel.

He then uses a grinder to even
the edges for the next step.

He welds the nine layers
of carbon steel

And eight layers
of nickel steel together.

He begins the forging process
by placing the layers

In a coal-fired forge

Where they heat up
to 1,472 degrees fahrenheit.

Step-by-step, the layers
will be forged

Into a single piece
of damascus steel.

An automated hammer
pounds the layers,

Forcing them to bind
to each other

At the molecular level.

As the powerful
hammering process forces

The layers together
into a unified piece of steel,

It also flattens out
and lengthens the metal.

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The cutler can then
break the piece in three places

And layer them all together.

This triples the number
of layers from 17 to 51.

The cutler will repeat
this process again and again

Until the steel
has around 300 layers.

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Here, a cutler prepares
a specialized

Model of laguiole pocketknife,

Which will have
a distinctive shape.

He continues the forging process
of heating and hammering.

The carbon steel will give
the knife its sharp edge,

While the nickel will
provide flexibility.

This manufacturer uses
the forged steel to create

Several different types
of blades for its pocketknives.

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A cutler places the formed
blades in an oven

Where the intense heat
will help flatten them.

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Once a blade has cooled,

A cutler cuts it to size,

Drills a hinge hole,

And uses a belt sander
to reduce its width

To about a tenth of an inch.

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Next, a worker will heat
and rapidly cool the blades

To temper them
before sharpening them.

He then dips then into
a solution of ferric chloride

To reveal the unique
wave patterns

In the damascus steel.

There's more to a pocketknife
than just the blade.

This manufacturer hand crafts
each component of its knives.

To create the bolster component,
a cutler starts by heating

A third-of-an-inch
stainless-steel rod.

Once the steel reaches


He then stamps it into a mold.

The production process
can stamp out 20 bolsters

In just 12 seconds.

Once they've cooled, a cutler
spot-welds them to a blade.

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To shape the spring plate,

Which forms part of
the folding mechanism,

A cutler heats one end up
to 1,562 degrees fahrenheit.

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He uses a specialized tool
to stamp the top portion flat.

This flat surface will be
the starting point for cutlers

To create the bee figure,

An emblematic feature
of laguiole knives.

Workers start by reducing
the surface

To a triangular shape.

Using a series
of different files,

The cutler carefully sculpts

The bee's eyes, body, and wings.

It seems that
pierre-jean calmels,

The inventor
of the laguiole knife,

Used a bee symbol in 1829,

And the cutlers
have been using ever

Since to set the knife apart
from other types.

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Cutlers shape the entire
spring plate,

And it takes more
than skilled work

With a few files to complete.

Stay tuned to see
how high-tech instruments

Refine the images

Before workers assemble
the rest of the knife.

Even the simplest
one-piece knife

Requires 109 production
steps to complete.

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Narrator: in the 1820s,

Cutlers began
crafting laguiole pocketknives

In aubrac, france.

The tradition came to an end
after world w*r I

But was revived
in the late 1980s.

Today, the artisans of aubrac
blend time-honored craftsmanship

With advanced technology.

To carve each unique
spring plate, a cutler starts

By placing one in a vice.

With the metal stabilized,
the cutler can focus on carving

With the aid
of powerful magnifiers.

The tungsten carbide
drill bits he uses are no larger

Than four-tenths
of a millimeter.

No wonder the details
on each spring are so precise.

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To temper the steel,
the cutler heats it

To 1,886 degrees fahrenheit
for several minutes.

Next, he cools it suddenly
in a bath of oil.

He will then heat it
to 446 degrees fahrenheit

For 1 hour to complete
the process.

This manufacturer
makes the knife-handles

From different materials,

Including antlers,
wood and bone.

When making a handle from bone,
a cutler starts by slicing it

Into sections with
a specialized blade.

He then cuts the slices
into smaller sections

That approximate the sides
of a knife-handle.

Cutlers can use the bone
with its natural color

Or immerse it in a stain
for several hours.

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All of the components
for this laguiole pocketknife

Are complete.

The cutler uses a belt sander
to give the spring

A light sanding.

Next, using the same tool,

He begins working
the bone handle components.

With the framework of the knife
as a template,

He carefully reduces both
of the components

To their required dimensions,

Achieving a perfect fit.

With the metal as a guide,
he uses a drill press

To pierce holes in the bone.

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With the practiced hand
of a skilled artisan,

The cutler drills
the famed shepherd's

Cross pattern by eye.

The shepherd's cross is another
signature of laguiole knives.

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The cutler connects the spring

To the components
known as scales,

Which form the internal
structure of the knife.

To join the parts, he inserts
stainless-steel pins

And hammers them flat
on either side

To hold them firmly in place.

He inserts short lengths
of thin steel wire

Into the holes drilled
to form the shepard's cross.

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He now begins adding
the bone side covers,

Which will form
the knife-handle.

He carefully screws the bone
covers securely to the scales

From the inside with three
stainless-steel screws per side.

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He then snips off the ends
of the screws that protrude.

Now, he can install
the damascus steel blade.

He does this by inserting
a stainless-steel pin

Through the hinge hole.

Teflon washers will
keep the opening

And folding operation
smooth and functional.

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The cutler uses
a specialized clamp

To grip the knife
as he installs the pin

At the back of the spring.

This pin, together with the one
that holds the blade,

Are the two essential elements

Of the laguiole knife mechanism.

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With the belt sander,

The cutler now refines
the handle,

Smoothing the pins,

And rounding the edges
of the bone covers.

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A final polish gives the bone
a shiny finish that highlights

The iconic shepherd's cross,

An innovation introduced
to allow shepherds

To celebrate mass,

Even when far from a church.

A cutler puts an extra fine edge
on the finished knife

With the help of a belt sander

That has a fine-grit sandpaper.

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The cutler makes several passes
on a piece of leather

With a practiced hand

To give the knife
its final edge.

This knife is now ready
to join the legendary company

Of other laguiole pocketknives

And peel a ripe apple
or slice some aged cheese.

Bon appétit.