Awesome Factories

We usually think of wood as a pretty stiff building material, but in this short video, we go inside a factory where workers bend and twist wood to their whim using machines and bending jigs. We’re guessing they must steam the wood first to make it so pliable.

Sit back and enjoy this 14-minute video from a bread factory in Korea, where ingredients are combined, then kneaded into dough and baked in industrial ovens. Then the freshly-baked loaves of white and chestnut bread glide along an assembly line, tumble out of their pans and head to the cooling racks before slicing.

Blower fans use a spinning metal cage to move large amounts of air. See how a factory makes these fans in this video from All Process of World. At the core of the operation is a machine that accepts a pair of rings and curved metal blades, then bends the ends to hold them in place. The outer housing is assembled by hand using a rivet gun and power screwdriver.

There’s just something about molten hot metal that gets us excited. In this video from Mega Process, they take us inside of a facility in Korea that produces huge metal bolts for industrial use. They start with long rods of steel which they cut down to bolt length, heat and shape the heads, then machine the screw threads.

Just Born has been cranking out Mike and Ike candies since 1940. The Food Network’s Unwrapped 2.0 took a tour of their Pennsylvania factory for a look at how the chewy candies are made. They’re produced from sugar, corn syrup, and starch poured into molds, slow-baked, tumbled with colors and flavors, then glazed to a shine.

The game of cricket is played with a leather-covered cork ball. Dukes Cricket has been making the balls since the 18th century. British Cricket Balls’ Managing Director walks us through the company’s process of hand-stitching every ball they make around layers of compressed cork, then smoothing and polishing them to a shine.

Tootsie Rolls have been around since 1896. Food Network’s Unwrapped 2.0 takes us on a tour of Tootsie’s enormous Chicago factory for a look at how these sweet and chewy treats are produced in mass quantities – nearly 65 million pieces of candy per day. We’re surprised they never tried selling those giant Tootsie logs.

If you’ve played badminton, you’re familiar with these feathered playing pieces, also known as “birdies.” In this clip from Science Channel’s How It’s Made, you’ll go inside a factory where they still make them with actual duck feathers. The process is surprisingly hands-on, given the volume of birdies they churn out.

Steelpan drums are made from the bottom of an oil drum. Filmmaker Chas Sheppard met artist Jimi Phillip to see how they’re made. He starts by pounding a concave shape, then sketches each pan and hammers them before heating, tempering, and tuning by ear. This BTS footage from Sounds Like Steel stands on its own.

MK Timelapse GmbH recorded the entire construction process of the AIDAnova, an 1105-foot-long cruise ship that carries 6600 passengers. The footage from Germany’s Meyer Neptun and Finland’s Meyer Turku shipyards starts out with massive engines being built and takes us through the fascinating modular assembly process.

The Science Channel’s How It’s Made takes us inside a factory that makes stainless steel forks, knives, and spoons. There’s much more to it than pouring molten metal into molds, which is what we had always assumed. We’re guessing the hollow handles cut down on raw materials cost.

This factory video from All Process of World takes us inside Hyundai Sungwoo Casting for a look at the machinery used to produce wheels. The process starts by melting aluminum bars, pouring the molten metal into molds, then quenching the wheels for strength before grinding away excess metal and finishing them.

Process X reveals the processes behind making objects we rarely think about. Case in point: the spinning brushes found in carwashes and on street sweepers. The Kyoshin Giken Co. makes these brushes by chopping up plastic bristles, setting them into a metal channel, then bending it into a spiral. Then it’s time for a haircut.

This factory in Korea uses specialized machines to produce cosmetic contact lenses in mass quantities. All Process of World posted this footage from the DK Medivision factory to see how machines precisely apply designs to silicone hydrogel lenses, float them in hygienic solution, then deposit them into packages.

We’ve seen how cheap mass-produced marbles are made. Now let’s take a look at a small West Virginia factory that combines machinery with glass art to create its unique marbles. Stephen Bahr captured this delightful behind-the-scenes look at Dave’s Appalachian Swirls as it creates a batch of its prized custom marbles.

Most clothing buttons are made from plastic. But the Tomoi factory in Japan still makes their buttons from a traditional material – seashells. Process X takes us for a tour and a look at the satisfying process of cutting, polishing, drilling, and laser-engraving thousands of shells into buttons each day.

If there’s one thing humans use a lot of, it’s toilet paper. This video from Process X takes us inside Japan’s Marutomi Paper Co., a factory that cranks out millions of rolls of the stuff every month. They start with stacks of paper pulp that they wet and press into massive rolls, which they then print, wrap around cores, and slice.

Making waffle cones at home is pretty darned easy. But when you need to churn out millions of these tasty treats every month, you need some serious industrial equipment. In this classic video from How It’s Made, they show us just how factories mass-produce waffle, sugar, and cake cones.

Redditor arcedup works in a steel mill and wanted to test out the video capabilities of their phone. While they were at it, they captured this wonderfully satisfying clip of molten hot steel being turned into a coiled rod. Is it wrong that we want to make the world’s largest Slinky with it?

We love the flavor and texture of mochi. This video from YumYum takes us inside of a Taiwanese kitchen for a look at how they turn rice pearls into a powder, then a starchy goo that forms the foundation for the tasty treats. They then chop up and process taro and mix it into the rice base with red bean paste to create a filling.

Lollipops are a fun way to enjoy hard candy. They’re even better when they’re edible works of art. Food Kingdom takes us inside Orbsei, a factory in Korea that makes spherical, sugar-free lollies that look like planets and galaxies. What makes them even more amazing is how much handwork goes into each one.

Every kitchen must have at least one cast iron pan, especially if you sear meats. Eater host Daniel Geneen takes us inside the Lodge Cast Iron factory in Tennessee for a look at how they crank out nearly 2 million pans per month. It’s cool to see how they melt down casting scraps and reuse them.

Pencils and pasta have more in common than you might think. Process X takes us inside a factory in Japan that makes pencil leads using a similar process to making spaghetti. After mixing raw ingredients, they extrude them into soft noodles, then cut them. Though instead of boiling them, they bake then soak them in hot oil.