# Most interesting thing you've learned from a How It's Made type show. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324 "2011-03-20T03:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/21 "2011-03-22T04:30:47Z")
I learn all kinds of cool stuff from Pawn Stars. Usually, the big thing I learn is either how to tell a particular thing is counterfeit, or how to tell a particular thing isn’t counterfeit. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/22 "2011-03-22T06:49:45Z")
I was fascinated how chains and steel wool were created- both are a continuous process. Mirrors and chalkboards were interesting too- I used to wonder what a chalkboard was actually made out of. Its cool how if you have a big enough piece of glass, you can score it with a glass cutter, and ‘tear’ off pieces. Usually the pieces pop off at once, but I saw a few longer sections actually rip loose. Buttons…there are so many ways to make buttons! Watching gold/aluminum getting refined. I always envisioned ore as rock with pieces of metal lodged in it (much like a chocolate chip cookie) but no, its just rocks, they dump chemicals on em, crush em into powder, more chemicals, dry them, pack em, dump more chemicals, heat it up, goop comes out, do stuff to goop, melt it again, and THEN you get gold! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/23 "2011-03-22T10:30:34Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I learn all kinds of cool stuff from Pawn Stars. Usually, the big thing I learn is either how to tell a particular thing is counterfeit, or how to tell a particular thing isn’t counterfeit. We used to call the brit tv series [Lovejoy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovejoy) Intro to Art Forgery 101 =) I really love peeking into how things are made, fantastic. I used to love the old style factory tours where you actually got to go out onto the factory floor and see how it was done, unlike the pop everybody into a giant golf cart and shuttle them past a display line =( I absolutely love the way that the internet has people who are fans of old industrial processes, antiques, and what not scan stuff in and post it, and you can find message boards about damn near anything =) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/24 "2011-03-22T11:49:53Z")
It’s not quite like “How It’s Made”, but I liked the episode of “The Secret Life of Machines” where they made an oversized model of a sewing machine to demonstrate how it worked. Brilliant! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4Jbk1uU_Jkk/hqdefault.jpg "Secret Life Of Machines The Sewing Machine Part 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jbk1uU_Jkk) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/25 "2011-03-22T14:03:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Ages ago I saw a program that showed how tennis balls were made. The fascinating part was at the end where the balls, one at a time, fell off the conveyor belt into a ten foot concrete pit. The good ones would bounce high enough to land on a shelf a foot or two lower on the other side of the pit where another belt would take them to where they got stuffed in cans. The duds wouldn’t make it that high, rattle around the bottom of the pit for a bit, then disappear down a sump. Their fate was not shown; dog toys, I suppose. That’s really cool. Dud cranberries are sorted in much the same way, but more than one at a time. Some sorting machines are really cool. There’s a machine that sorts onion seeds. Thousands of seeds per second are dropped through a space about 1 foot square. An optical scanner looks at each one and evaluates its color. If it’s not the right color, a puff of air will blow that ONE seed into a dud bin. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/26 "2011-03-22T14:20:44Z")
How a Ferrari engine piece is made: They insert valve seats (metal rings) after they are deep frozen them in liquid nitrogen. They used a wood holder to seat them in cylinder head holes for the valve train. The freezing shrinks the rings (seats) but when they expand, they are never coming out of that engine head, even at 10,000 RPM. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/27 "2011-03-22T16:48:01Z")
This [How a Car is Made](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j5g95AGdQ0) is a bit dated, but its interesting nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/28 "2011-03-22T18:00:32Z")
I love tuning in a bit late and then seeing if I can figure out what is being made before they say what it is. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/29 "2011-03-23T01:17:02Z")
I really really really want to see the pantyhose episode of How It’s Made but I somehow manage to miss it every single friggen time it’s on. The really stupid part of that is that I have DVR and I STILL manage to miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/30 "2011-03-23T02:20:57Z")
How It’s Made is one of my son’s favourite shows. (He pretty much only watches YTV and Discovery Channel with brief excusions onto other channels for Mommy-approved shows. We watch this after homework, its actually a carrot to get the spelling/reading work done. Cornstarch molds for candies and other food stuffs fascinates me. No unmolding/sticking problems at the end. Sporting goods made by hand help me to remember why they are so expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/31 "2011-03-23T18:17:10Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > I really really really want to see the pantyhose episode of How It’s Made but I somehow manage to miss it every single friggen time it’s on. The really stupid part of that is that I have DVR and I STILL manage to miss it. https://www.youtube.com/embed/AEslcVR8kt0?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324/32 "2011-03-23T18:24:48Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEslcVR8kt0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEslcVR8kt0) THAT IS SO COOL!!! Thank you! One of these days, I’ll actually think to check Youtube for things I want to watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-thing-youve-learned-from-a-how-its-made-type-show/575324.md?page=1)