Some Assembly Required (2007–…): Season 1, Episode 7 - Some Assembly Required - full transcript
For all the everyday things,
all the stuff in our world,
there's the story of
how it comes to be.
Hello. I'm Brian Unger.
BLOOMFIELD: I'm
Professor Lou Bloomfield.
UNGER: From the drawing
board to the assembly line,
it's how the ordinary is
actually extraordinary.
Today on "Some
Assembly Required,"
Tennessee whiskey,
marbles, and unsinkable boats.
This is the best view of
Lynchburg, Tennessee.
From a rocking chair
high atop Barbecue Hill.
Now, they make something very
special and unique down there.
This is the home
of Jack Daniel's,
a Tennessee whiskey.
On "Some Assembly
Required," we wanted to find out...
How's it different from,
say, a Kentucky bourbon
or some whiskey
that's manufactured
somewhere else in the world?
We have to tell
the story of this.
We've got to start
with the barrel.
Because for Jack Daniel's
black label and all of its labels,
this is where the flavor starts.
Jack Daniel's Cooperage.
It's a place where
barrels are made.
This one's in
Louisville, Kentucky,
and it's one of the
largest in the world,
rolling out 2,200 barrels a day.
600 tons of white
oak arrive here daily,
precut into individual staves.
Now, after the staves are
dried for at least six months,
they're sent to workers
like Tommy Hornback,
who will shape them
properly for the barrel makers.
These are not all the same
size when they come to us.
They're irregular.
Like that.
And they're not properly
beveled on the ends.
You got to kind
of turn it into this.
And now I'm going
to try to do this
without cutting my arms off.
That wheel makes
me a little nervous.
But you get used
to it, obviously.
HORNBACK: You get used to it.
Should I go ahead
and push it in?
HORNBACK: That
end, put it down here.
No, other way.
- Right?
- Well, close enough.
So, you're basically just
dealing with the wood
as it comes to you?
An assortment of big
ones and little ones.
And you just use a
mixture to build the barrels.
That's right.
There are 33 staves
involved in raising a barrel.
Melissa here is such an expert,
she can pick 33 of
these staves from this pile
just by sight
and know exactly
how to fit them together.
But the object here...
Don't let the whiskey leak.
Melissa Kappel will assemble
or, as they say
at the cooperage,
raise no less than 260 barrels
by the end of an 8-hour shift.
I don't even know
where to start, Melissa.
The easiest way to do it
is to do, like, two little,
two wide, two little.
Like these.
- These good?
- Yeah.
You like these.
I don't know how you know that.
Are you counting them as you go?
Am I counting them
as I go? [Laughs]
No, I'm not.
1, 2...
You've got 22.
I've got 22 so far. I need 33.
Yep. I would do two wide ones.
Two wide ones.
Uh...
Those will work.
So, this is where it
gets kind of critical,
when you're putting in
the last staves in the barrel.
You just want to find one
that will fit down in there.
Try that one.
- This one?
- Yeah.
I don't know how
you just did that.
There are thousands
of pieces of wood here.
She just looked at this
one and said, "That one."
Might be too big.
That's impressive.
Once they're placed inside
the head ring at the base,
the staves are secured
with temporary hoops,
and then they're
sent on their way
to take the shape of a barrel.
A steam sheller softens the oak
so the staves will bend easily
inside the
barrel-shaping machine
known as the Buffalo.
The Buffalo machine
seals the barrels.
It does that in three stages.
The first stage here
installs a second set of rings
around the barrel.
The second stage
spins the barrel
to true up all the staves
so they meet one
another perfectly.
The third stage pushes the rings
on so hard that when it's done,
the tension in each
ring is about 10 tons,
and that crushes
the wood together
and creates the perfect seal.
Next, the barrels move along
to one of the most
important steps
in making Tennessee whiskey,
charring the oak.
Wow, it is getting hot in here.
I'm getting out of here.
Tennessee whiskey has to be aged
in these charred
white-oak barrels.
That is hot. Wow.
Here's how this works.
Each barrel
straddles a gas burner,
which then shoots a flame
through the
center of the barrel,
charring the inside.
Water then sprays
up through the hole
to stop the wood from burning.
Ahh!
Fresh charred white-oak barrels.
Mike, how long's it
take to char a barrel?
23 seconds.
23 seconds.
Now, what if you
leave it in too long?
Jack will still accept them.
But it does make
the char deeper.
Jack don't like a deep char.
Jack ain't nothing
without a good char,
because charring has
as much to do with flavor
as it does with color.
UNGER: We're, like,
toasting a marshmallow here.
BLOOMFIELD: Exactly.
That's perfect because there's
a lot of sugars in the wood.
And when you heat
them up nice and hot,
they turn into these
caramel, toffee,
butterscotch flavors, like
a toasted marshmallow.
And over the seasons, as
the whiskey's aging in this,
the pores in the
wood open and close,
and they sort of draw the
liquid in, put it out, in, out,
and the flavors leak
into the whiskey.
And about half the flavor
of the finished whiskey
came from the wood.
All the color came from
the tannin in the wood.
So, without the barrel,
we would never have that
real Tennessee whiskey flavor,
would we?
No.
UNGER: Well, now
with the critical step
of this charring
complete for our barrels,
they're gonna move
on down the line,
where they'll put heads on these
barrels and permanent hoops.
These are temporary.
They'll move even
further on to inspection.
And we're getting very close
to putting whiskey in our barrels.
We're almost there.
But the two heads, or ends,
get cut, fashioned, and charred
the same way the
rest of the barrel does.
Now, to seal the
heads to the barrel,
they're rolled in beeswax,
which acts as
an airtight sealant
between the heads
and the staves.
Because the heat from
charring shrinks those staves,
tighter steel
hoops are attached,
and, finally, our barrels
move on down the line.
Time now to drill a hole in this
through which we'll
pour our whiskey.
It's called a bunghole,
and that's what
this machine does.
It's called a bunger.
Oh, yeah. It's a good bunghole.
This is David Johnson.
He's the bunger man.
This is where you wax
your... You wax the bunghole?
Yeah.
- Wax the bung.
- There you go.
Okay. So, the bung's good.
Tightly fitted in the bunghole.
Stick this in the bung, right?
It's a rubber bung.
Tap your...
UNGER: It's gonna
put a gallon of water in.
Is that enough to really test?
Yes, it is. Okay.
The barrel is injected
with a mixture of water
and pressurized air.
This will expose
any potential leaks
by forcing water
between the staves.
[Laughs]
Aw, man, I hate when
my bunghole does that.
After these barrels go
through a final inspection,
the ones that don't leak
are loaded onto trucks bound
for Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Well, all this work, and
we only got a barrel.
Where we're headed
next... The distillery.
It's there we're gonna find out
what makes Tennessee whiskey
so different from
any other whiskey.
Well, we're on our way
to actually see the water
from which they make
Jack Daniel's Whiskey...
From the water in which they've
always made it and always will.
And we have the honor
of being with the master
distiller, Jimmy Bedford.
You're really only the
sixth master distiller
that Jack Daniel's has ever had.
BEDFORD: Jack
Daniel being the first one,
and I'm the sixth one.
In the 1860s,
Jack Daniel set up his
distillery here in Lynchburg
because of the
purity of the water
in this natural cave spring.
- UNGER: What's the temperature?
- 56 degrees.
It'll run that way year-round.
BLOOMFIELD: It's a hard water.
Although it's mineral-free in
that it doesn't have iron in it,
it's got a lot of calcium in it.
The limestone is
washing along in the water,
and that adds a flavor to it.
You know, the only thing
that would make
this water taste better
is if it were just all whiskey
coming out of that cave.
Each day, 300,000
gallons of water
flow from the cave
spring to the distillery,
where it meets up with
the other main ingredients.
These trucks roll in here 24/7,
bringing in these raw materials.
This happens to be barley malt.
Now, the mixture
that Jack Daniel's uses
is 80% corn, 8% rye,
and 12% barley malt.
All these grains are ground
and mixed together
with cave water,
creating what's known as mash.
Now, this mash is heated
to break down the
starches in the grains,
turning them into sugar.
Jack Daniel's also adds 20%
of something called sour mash...
Leftovers from the previous
batch of fermented mash.
Sour mash helps maintain
the consistency of flavor
from batch to batch.
Now, we're ready to
mix the mash with yeast
to make alcohol, a process
known as fermentation.
In goes our mash into these
40,000-gallon fermenting tanks.
And, basically, what they
can do here at Jack Daniel's
is just hook into their
piping system up here,
and they start filling.
How long will this
take to fill, Kevin?
KEVIN: Each mash cooker
takes 20 minutes to pump out.
We have four mash cookers,
so it will be about an
hour and 20 minutes.
An hour and 20
minutes. All right.
KEVIN: Then we'll swap this
line over to the next fermenter
and just keep going.
At the bottom of the fermenter,
the yeast has already
been pumped in there.
You can smell that yeast.
See that very fruity smell?
Yeah.
That is a highly active yeast
ready to start consuming
the fermentable sugars
that are in this mash.
UNGER: At this point, it
would be sweet, wouldn't it?
I mean, if we
were to taste this.
Yes, this is a very sweet...
What we do is, in
the mashing process...
UNGER: It's like
cornmeal at this point.
It's good.
It takes four to seven
days to ferment the mash.
During that time,
the yeast converts
the sugars into alcohol,
giving off carbon
dioxide as a by-product.
Once the mash is fermented,
we'll separate the
alcohol from the grains,
and that means distillation.
Well, Jimmy Bedford and I,
the master distiller
here at Jack Daniel's,
are in the distillation room.
And this is really where
our mash mixture...
The sour mash, the
yeast, and all that water...
Really start to
look like alcohol.
This is the still that
goes all the way up.
BEDFORD: About
60 feet tall up in there.
Layers of trays are
stacked inside this still.
- BEDFORD: 17 trays.
- UNGER: 17.
The fermented mash makes its way
back and forth
across these trays,
and as it does, the
alcohol vaporizes
from the heated mash
and collects in
the top of the still.
Then it passes
through a series of coils,
which cool and condense
the vapor into liquid.
Now, the result is 140-proof
natural grain alcohol
flowing at the rate of
60 gallons per minute.
If we were to
put this in barrels
the way it is right there,
that would be an ordinary
whiskey, wouldn't it?
Yes. It wouldn't be a
Tennessee whiskey.
It would not be a
Tennessee whiskey.
So, in order for it to qualify
as Tennessee whiskey,
- we're going to add a step here.
- One step.
And it's that step
that makes Jack Daniel's
a Tennessee whiskey
and not a Kentucky bourbon.
This distinction
in flavor is gained
through a filtering process
known as charcoal mellowing.
And to do that, we got
to make some charcoal.
Jerry Hamilton is a
production manager here,
and we're really entering...
The name is on the
building... The Rickyard.
- These are our ricks.
- These are the ricks.
And what we're gonna do is
we're gonna let these ricks...
We'll bring them
on the premises,
and we'll keep them
here for about six months.
And at the end
of the six months,
they're about ready to burn.
We could use lighter fluid, but
that would pollute the whiskey.
So instead, we're
gonna light this stuff
with 140-proof Jack
Daniel's Tennessee whiskey.
UNGER: This would
actually be not a bad way
to light your own
charcoal, wouldn't it?
Put some whiskey on it instead
of using a charcoal lighter.
- Yeah, just use Jack Daniel's.
- Use J.D.
HAMILTON: Kind of expensive.
It would be a little
expensive, wouldn't it?
These ricks burn
for about 45 minutes.
All I'm missing here is
a hot dog and a stick.
Right now, we're
making charcoal,
and the way that I know
that we're making charcoal
is the fire has virtually died.
You know how I
know we're doing it?
- How's that?
- It's like standing on the sun.
HAMILTON: Well,
this is a reminder
of what it's gonna be
like in the hereafter.
What are you presuming
about me, Jerry?
- UNGER: So, do I hit that?
- HAMILTON: Yep.
So, what we're
just trying to do here
is make sure that our
charcoal stays charcoal
and not a big pile of ash,
'cause you can't filter
whiskey through ash.
Basically, I have to keep
this pile as black as possible.
And wherever any white
embers start coming up,
I got to douse them... quick.
Once the charcoal cools,
it's ground into smaller pieces
and then poured
into 10-foot-deep
charcoal-mellowing vats.
Jerry, I noticed
something about this room
in which we do the
charcoal mellowing.
That it's very mellow in here.
It's a very mellow
plant. [Laughs]
UNGER: Down here, down
below is where you really see
the bulk work of
these mellowing vats.
- How many are down here, Jerry?
- 60 of them.
So, this is where
you're gonna drain off
what has been mellowed?
HAMILTON: Correct.
Charcoal mellowing
improves the flavor of whiskey
the same way that a water filter
takes tap water and
cleans up the off-flavors.
Basically, there's tremendous
surface area in this charcoal.
It's very porous.
There are actually
square miles of surface,
and certain molecules
stick to that surface.
And those are the
off-flavors of whiskey.
So, by the time the whiskey's
dripped through this
entire 10 feet of charcoal,
the off-flavors are gone,
and all you have is
clean, clear whiskey.
The mellowing is complete,
and finally, Shawn Sullinger and I
are gonna put the alcohol
into our charred-oak barrels.
- SULLINGER: All right.
- Now, you just spin the barrel?
SULLINGER: Spin the
barrel. Shove it down in there.
And then hold it
and hit the red button.
- UNGER: Let go?
- SULLINGER: Let go.
Oh, yeah. Magic moment.
We're finally putting our
whiskey into our barrels,
the barrels we made up
in Louisville, Kentucky.
Oh, yeah!
Sometimes these bungs don't
fit down in the hole so good.
Well, sometimes the
holes are drilled different
from the small bunghole.
You just really got to...
beat it in.
UNGER: You just got to have
your way with the bunghole.
You just got to really
just slap it real hard. Yeah.
Okay.
We're ready to roll these out.
Like wine, whiskey's got to age.
So each day, they
ship the barrels
to one of the many
warehouses in this county,
which is, ironically,
a dry county.
Now, collectively,
these warehouses
hold up to 1.8 million barrels.
Yes, there are 90
million gallons of whiskey
in them thar hills.
And it's Benny Reese's
job to stock all those barrels.
So, what's the
motto, here, Benny?
REESE: We keep things rolling.
[Unger laughs]
All right.
All you got to do
is hit your lever.
- Down?
- Up. There.
See, I'm not gonna
do it all for you.
That's to hold
that barrel steady.
- Now, get your other hand...
- UNGER: Right here.
Yeah, hit it up just one time.
So, my motto is just keep
it rolling... some of the time.
Okay.
We're gonna cut it
straight off onto this pan.
There it is.
Okay, good. All right.
We got to let this
sit for four years.
Should we go have
a really long lunch?
Jack Daniel's whiskeys
mature four to seven years,
depending on the label.
Now, during that time,
seasonal temperature changes
causes the barrels to
expand and contract,
allowing the whiskey to
flow in and out of the cracks
in the charred oak.
As the whiskey does that,
it picks up its
characteristic color
and much of its flavor.
Now, Jack Daniel's
is matured properly
when, and only when,
master distiller Jimmy
Bedford gives his blessing.
Now, you've got your sample.
Now, I'm not allowed
to drink this here.
- Is that right?
- Well, right.
We can smell of it and...
[Laughs]
Just wanted the see what's...
Boy, that smells good.
BEDFORD: Every bit of that color
comes from that
white-oak barrel.
What do you know about
that whiskey right there
that you're smelling?
When we first got
it out, we could see
that it had matured
with the color to it.
But then, when you smell of it,
pick up that toasted-oat,
caramel, vanilla aroma there,
then you know it's gone
through the maturing process.
Boy, it's just a shame
that we can't just take a
drink right here, isn't it?
For real. I'm not
allowed to drink it.
All right.
Now, years ago, we...
- [Laughs]
- Years ago...
Mibs. Taw.
Keepsies. Commies.
This the vernacular of
the highly competitive sport
of marbles.
This is a cat's-eye.
It's a clear marble
with a little blue
sort of streak in there.
We're gonna make
these marbles today.
Because we want to find out...
We're in Paden
City, West Virginia,
a place where marbles
outnumber humans 400 to 1.
It's home to Marble King,
one of the last bastions
of marble manufacturing
in America.
A place where old
glass gets a second life.
You know, the marble
business is not exactly pretty.
At first glance, it
sort of looks like
some old guy should
probably clean up his yard.
But, actually, these are the
raw materials for marbles.
They start out this way,
like someone's pretty
ugly bathroom set.
You know, the
seashell and the starfish.
They wind up here.
This is all recycled glass.
It's not just tchotchkes
that end up as marbles...
That's the most
adorable piece of glass.
[Glass shattering]
but also trash...
This represents just one
game night in America.
A remnant of a parfait glass...
A perfume bottle...
Chanel number...
Who gives a crap?
And knickknacks
with slight defects.
Was this a rooster
ornamentation gone bad?
Is that what this is?
This was a fine set
- of rooster...
- Something.
Rooster glass that someone...
I was gonna buy a
collection of rooster glass.
A lot of people do.
This one maybe
didn't work out so well,
- and it wound up here.
- That's right.
Marble King needs
4.5 tons of glass
to make their daily
production of 1 million marbles.
And it's up to company
president Beri Fox
to make sure it's
all sorted correctly.
- You're going through a lot.
- FOX: We are.
A lot of little frogs
and a lot of eggs.
A lot of eggs, a lot
of broken pieces,
but that saves all of that
- from going into a landfill.
- Yeah.
How did West Virginia become
the marble capital of the world?
How did that happen?
Why West Virginia?
Because there's a lot
of natural resources here
that are plentiful that help
offset some of our costs.
I thought it was because
there's a lot of people
that are breaking
glass by accident.
No, that's not it, no. We're
not glass breakers by nature.
[Glass shattering]
One thing you
can honestly say...
West Virginia is a state
with all of its marbles.
- With all its marbles.
- [Laughs]
You can't avoid
the puns, can you?
You just can't. I
hear 'em all, all day.
- The jokes write themselves.
- They do.
To make our cat's-eye
marble, Ronnie Wright and I
need to melt clear
and blue glass together.
Now, do I just fill this up?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
We start with the clear glass.
[Humming]
You want to weigh
it out 75 pounds.
- 75 pounds?
- Yeah, you want 75 pounds.
And then we're gonna take
this and dump it into the furnace?
Yeah.
Marble King melts glass
in a furnace built by hand
and keeps it running at
a steady 2,300 degrees.
I'm not gonna burn myself, am I?
- No.
- Okay, good.
"No." I-I don't...
You're supposed to
comfort me in this moment
and say, "No, it
is perfectly safe."
Yeah, it's safe.
[Chuckles]
Making marbles
is a 24/7 operation,
so they feed this
furnace constantly.
How many times a day
will you be doing this...
Filling these up, putting
them in that furnace?
You do it every 20 minutes.
Every 20 minutes
75 pounds goes in?
I bet you're sick of glass
by the end of the day.
No.
- Huh?
- No.
Do you use Styrofoam cups
at home and just paper plates?
No.
- Just so sick of glass?
- Yeah.
That's what I would do.
Now, it will take this batch
of glass eight hours to melt.
Right at the moment,
the glass that's beginning
to melt here looks like taffy.
By the time it gets to the
end, it will be pure liquid.
We're making
marbles at Marble King
in Paden City, West Virginia.
Our clear glass is melting
and flowing like a river
from the back of this
furnace to the front,
where it will come out
looking like a sphere.
But just before these
molten marble droplets form
is when we put the
eye in the cat's-eye.
Watch yourself.
This stuff will cut you.
UNGER: This will cut me.
THOMPSON: Do
you have any gloves?
- Do I have any gloves?
- Yeah.
Someone get me some gloves?
Here, hold on a second.
Marble maker Kevin Thompson...
He doesn't need any gloves.
You're just gonna
use your bare hands?
I get cut all the time.
It don't matter to me.
Take this roller so
we get it small enough
so it crushes up in there
and it will melt easy enough.
If you want to, you can
walk on it and it will break it.
It will make it easier.
Walk back and forth
and roll that like that.
This is all right, but, like,
these bigger pieces, like this,
you don't want them like that.
- I need that to be smaller.
- THOMPSON: Yep.
The glass pieces are
finally small enough
to add to the clear glass
already melted in the furnace.
So, it's like the most efficient
glass-breaking operation going.
I feel right at home here.
Well, it's time to
add the blue glass,
which is done at the
front of the machine
where it joins our
molten river of glass.
UNGER: Down the hole it goes?
THOMPSON: Yeah,
right up in there.
Easy as you can.
Now pick straight
up on the handle.
There you go. Just like that.
Well, this is the moment
we've been waiting for.
Our cat's-eye.
Now, inside the furnace,
the blue glass melts
with the clear glass,
but rather than disappear
into the clear glass,
the blue glass maintains
its own unique structure,
forming blue vein like
streaks that form the cat's-eye.
Balls of red-hot glass are cut
and dropped onto the rollers,
which then shape the
glass into round marbles.
These look like big corkscrews.
But explain to me what's
happening here, Jason.
I know that you're cutting off
these pieces of
molten hot glass.
But what's happening
on these screws exactly?
The process coming
through the rolls
is actually rounding
out the marble.
UNGER: It rounds
it out as it cools,
- right?
- Yes.
But it still has to be hot
enough and malleable enough,
right, to form into that sphere?
As they travel along the
rollers, the marbles cool,
slowly hardening
with our blue cat's-eye
permanently suspended inside.
The marbles start
at 1,950 degrees
at this end of the rollers.
They're down to 1,100
by the time they leave.
And they're still 900 when
they get to the buckets.
To show you just how
hot those marbles still are,
we can put some paper in.
There they go.
Our cat's-eyes have
been shaped and cooled
into perfect spheres,
but not every one will
get past Jason Wayne.
We're doing a little quality
control here with our cat's-eye.
What are you
looking for, exactly?
WAYNE: Broken
pieces, cracked pieces.
Anything that don't
have a full stripe.
UNGER: So, you inspect
all of these by hand?
Yeah.
That's a lot of
marbles to look at.
Oh, yeah.
Here's one you
would reject, right?
1 million marbles.
Packaged and ready to go.
A whole day making
marbles, and I'm itching to play.
Now, how many
marbles are in the rack?
- BAUER: 13.
- UNGER: 13 marbles?
Who better to
teach me how to play
than marble champions
Alex Bauer and Ricky Brody?
Um, okay.
Do you guys want to
trash-talk each other first?
Do you want to just pace
around the marble court?
In a nutshell,
players take turns
knocking target
marbles out of a circle
with a larger shooter
marble that's known as a taw.
Now, a taw is like a tennis
player's favorite racket.
And if you lose it, it's
bad. Very, very bad.
WOMAN: Was it your, uh...
National Champion shooter?
UNGER: Oh, don't
even tell me that.
BRODY: What?
UNGER: Oh, Rick.
No, we're gonna
find this marble.
If we have to put
it on a milk carton,
we're gonna do that, too.
FOX: Got more people
down on their hands and knees
than church.
UNGER: I haven't
seen a community
come together like this since
Baby Jessica fell down a well.
MAN: We probably stepped it in.
MAN #2: Yeah.
UNGER: Yay!
Yes!
FOX: He got it!
Our director, Brian
Leonard, gets the marble.
Yes, he does!
Would someone please
give me a marble I can lose?
Well, it is a beautiful
day in Edgewater, Florida.
The sun is setting
over my shoulder
here over the Intracoastal.
And the only thing
that could ruin this day
is if my boat would sink.
But I have complete
confidence that won't happen,
even in a boat that's
been cut in half...
because I'm in the
unsinkable boat.
Well, we're at Boston
Whaler to find out.
Well, the story of
our unsinkable boat
here at Boston Whaler
begins with these molds.
This is the liner,
and this is the hull.
And what gets a little
complicated in this assembly
is this thought.
These are not the actual boats,
even though they look like
a boat turned upside down
and this looks like
a big orange boat.
These are actually molds
on which we will build
layer upon layer of material.
We build the boat
from the outside in.
Then we'll glue the
two pieces together
to make a single boat.
In this case, the Dauntless 230.
Cassie and I are getting
ready to prep the mold.
This is the surface on which
we're going to layer our boat.
- This is your release agent.
- My release agent.
You just want to put
enough on to where it's wet.
And then you just wipe it.
Now, this release agent
is akin to putting shortening
on a baking pan, isn't it?
We want to be able
to separate the material
from the mold eventually,
and this is what
makes that possible.
So, we have to make sure
we get all this release agent
in every nook and cranny.
In about an hour, we're
finished prepping our molds.
So, I'm standing in the
mold that we just waxed.
This is the hull of
the Dauntless 230.
And, in a moment,
we're going to apply
the first coat of laminate.
This is called a gel coat.
So, Eric, what is a gel coat?
ERIC: Gel coat is a
vinyl-polyester resin.
It's impregnated with color,
Whaler White being this
specific color for this part.
And that's all it is.
It's pretty much a really
durable colored resin,
like the paint of a car
just a lot more durable.
Now, applying the
exterior coat first
may seem a little strange,
like painting a house
before you've even built it.
But this ultrathin coating
is the outermost
surface of the boat.
98% of this coat is resin,
which makes it impervious
to salt water and U. V. rays.
Eric and I will now apply
the gel coat to the liner.
I pretty much go like
water. I work with gravity.
I'll start on the top and
let it work its way down.
That way, any overspray
goes straight down.
The entire coat should
be exactly 20 mils thick,
about the width of
five pieces of paper.
20 mils. 3 dots. Perfect.
3 dots. 20 mils.
Actually, that way.
Do it up and down.
Yes.
- Doesn't that look beautiful?
- That looks great.
It's time now for what
is called a skin coat.
This is really the application
of our first coat
of fiberglass, right?
This is really sort
of all working toward
keeping our boat
durable and strong.
- Yes. It's like a skeleton.
- A skeleton.
We're sort of building
that for our hull right now.
Do we just dump buckets
of this stuff in here?
- Start spraying.
- Spraying.
It's all done with
kind of a gun?
Chop gun.
A chop gun? What's a chop gun?
MAN: A chop gun is a gun
that sprays out resin,
catalyst, and chop.
Chop is actually a
durable substance
we know as fiberglass... resin
and catalyst bonded together.
Why do they use fiberglass?
What's the magic of it?
It seems counterintuitive.
Glass sounds fragile.
But by the time you
reduce it to fibers,
this is the stuff you're
spraying down on that boat.
And the actual
fibers... Look carefully.
They're hair-thin. They're
thinner than a human hair.
And they lose their fragility.
Glass becomes really
almost unbreakable
when you make it so fine.
UNGER: There has already
been one coat of fiberglass
applied to the
bottom of this liner.
And we're now gonna do
a second coat of fiberglass.
- This is called the bulk coat.
- Yeah.
UNGER: This is primarily
for strength and durability,
right, that we put on
the bottom of this liner?
What are some of the pitfalls
that you got to look out for
when you're putting
this fiberglass on?
You mainly want to be careful
around these radiuses
and stuff right here.
It's a very crucial part.
It's time to take
this inner liner,
pick it up with these
hoists, flip it 180 degrees,
move it down, and set it
right down inside the hull.
This they call the
closing at Boston Whaler,
and they'll fasten
these two together.
And, eventually,
we'll inject foam in
between these two pieces.
That will be a little bit later.
And all of these
materials will join together
in a nice, composite
material that is... unsinkable.
"Some Assembly Required"
is in Edgewater, Florida,
at Boston Whaler,
and we are building
the unsinkable boat.
We're taking this...
The liner and the hull...
Into the foaming room,
where we're going to
inject foam in between here,
really pack it tight.
They'll all bond, make
a composite material,
and that will really
form the foundation
of the unsinkable Boston Whaler.
Operator Jody Coil
shows us how it's done.
UNGER: How much foam
are we gonna put in here,
pack that interior with foam?
- How much?
- 420 pounds.
420 pounds.
In 28 seconds.
UNGER: So, should we fire it up?
- You ready?
- Ready, Jody.
COIL: Fire in the hull.
Fire in the hull!
So, is this now...
Oh, there it goes.
Okay, follow me.
This machine pumps
in two liquid chemicals,
an isocyanate and a polyol.
They make urethane.
A little water
added to the polyol
generates carbon-dioxide
gas to create foam.
It's gurgling in there.
[Laughing] Yeah!
UNGER: So, we really
can't see this mixture
being poured into this cavity.
So, you have a test box
that can actually show
us what that's doing, right?
- Whoa!
- There it goes.
You can see, it's
just a liquid right now.
There's almost no carbon
dioxide generated yet.
During this chemical reaction,
the foam can heat
up to 200 degrees
and take almost 24
hours to cool down.
UNGER: Now, how much
pressure is it putting on the sides?
BLOOMFIELD: Not
very much, in this case,
because we don't
have it clamped closed.
But in the boat,
it's clamped closed,
and it's packed in there.
A lot of pressure.
That foam is tough,
but it's also light.
And that's the key to
building a Boston Whaler.
So, that high pressure
building up inside
is causing that expansion?
BLOOMFIELD:
Yeah, and pretty soon
it's gonna come flying out here.
Inside the mold,
the foam clings to the outer
shell of the boat and hardens,
binding the two halves
of the whaler together.
There are no vacancies inside,
no place for
water to pool at all.
It's really a great way of
making a truly unsinkable boat.
It'll sit overnight.
Then they will
release these clasps
and take what is inside...
This liner and this hull
and that foam in between...
And go to the trim shop.
Scott Clarkson
runs the trim shop.
When you pull these
two molds apart,
you get a little bit
of mess down here.
You get this sort of flashing.
This is just the fiberglass
combined with our gel coat
and all those coats
of resin and catalyst
to kind of form this
crust, like on a bread,
that we've got to take off.
All right! Let's do
some trimming!
Can I try cutting this one?
This is a very
delicate operation.
If you trim too closely,
you actually cut into
the surface of the boat.
I did just actually cut
a little too far into it.
They tell me here
that it can be fixed.
If not, just send the bill
to Discovery Channel.
This is the final
assembly area here,
where the unsinkable
boat gets finished.
This is where the
boats get their guts...
The wiring and the tanks
and all the myriad accessories
that people have ordered
to put on these boats.
And, finally, it's
coming together.
Stan, what are
we putting in here?
Run it down for
me, if you would.
Okay, in station one,
you're gonna start out
with whatever options
come with the boat.
Okay.
Minibar?
I guess if you wanted
to have one, you could.
Behind that, the box. I
can lift the box if you want.
That's the porta-potty.
That would be the most
important thing, next to the bar.
Oh, yeah.
Porta-potty.
[Both laugh]
At station two,
we add the bells and
whistles, like the console.
Climb on in there if you want.
Get a feel for it.
Really not that hard
to get in and out.
So, basically,
I'm underneath where the
captain would be driving.
And what goes on here is where
someone goes to the bathroom.
- Excuse me.
- [Toilet flushes]
So, in these last two stages,
a 6-cylinder engine goes on,
inspectors give their sign-off,
and, finally, our
unsinkable boat is born.
It's been a long day, huh?
And after a hard day's work,
it's time to take
her out for a spin.
Do not try this at
home, but this is how
an unsinkable boat
stays afloat forever.
- Is that right, Boston Whaler?
- ALL: Yeah!
all the stuff in our world,
there's the story of
how it comes to be.
Hello. I'm Brian Unger.
BLOOMFIELD: I'm
Professor Lou Bloomfield.
UNGER: From the drawing
board to the assembly line,
it's how the ordinary is
actually extraordinary.
Today on "Some
Assembly Required,"
Tennessee whiskey,
marbles, and unsinkable boats.
This is the best view of
Lynchburg, Tennessee.
From a rocking chair
high atop Barbecue Hill.
Now, they make something very
special and unique down there.
This is the home
of Jack Daniel's,
a Tennessee whiskey.
On "Some Assembly
Required," we wanted to find out...
How's it different from,
say, a Kentucky bourbon
or some whiskey
that's manufactured
somewhere else in the world?
We have to tell
the story of this.
We've got to start
with the barrel.
Because for Jack Daniel's
black label and all of its labels,
this is where the flavor starts.
Jack Daniel's Cooperage.
It's a place where
barrels are made.
This one's in
Louisville, Kentucky,
and it's one of the
largest in the world,
rolling out 2,200 barrels a day.
600 tons of white
oak arrive here daily,
precut into individual staves.
Now, after the staves are
dried for at least six months,
they're sent to workers
like Tommy Hornback,
who will shape them
properly for the barrel makers.
These are not all the same
size when they come to us.
They're irregular.
Like that.
And they're not properly
beveled on the ends.
You got to kind
of turn it into this.
And now I'm going
to try to do this
without cutting my arms off.
That wheel makes
me a little nervous.
But you get used
to it, obviously.
HORNBACK: You get used to it.
Should I go ahead
and push it in?
HORNBACK: That
end, put it down here.
No, other way.
- Right?
- Well, close enough.
So, you're basically just
dealing with the wood
as it comes to you?
An assortment of big
ones and little ones.
And you just use a
mixture to build the barrels.
That's right.
There are 33 staves
involved in raising a barrel.
Melissa here is such an expert,
she can pick 33 of
these staves from this pile
just by sight
and know exactly
how to fit them together.
But the object here...
Don't let the whiskey leak.
Melissa Kappel will assemble
or, as they say
at the cooperage,
raise no less than 260 barrels
by the end of an 8-hour shift.
I don't even know
where to start, Melissa.
The easiest way to do it
is to do, like, two little,
two wide, two little.
Like these.
- These good?
- Yeah.
You like these.
I don't know how you know that.
Are you counting them as you go?
Am I counting them
as I go? [Laughs]
No, I'm not.
1, 2...
You've got 22.
I've got 22 so far. I need 33.
Yep. I would do two wide ones.
Two wide ones.
Uh...
Those will work.
So, this is where it
gets kind of critical,
when you're putting in
the last staves in the barrel.
You just want to find one
that will fit down in there.
Try that one.
- This one?
- Yeah.
I don't know how
you just did that.
There are thousands
of pieces of wood here.
She just looked at this
one and said, "That one."
Might be too big.
That's impressive.
Once they're placed inside
the head ring at the base,
the staves are secured
with temporary hoops,
and then they're
sent on their way
to take the shape of a barrel.
A steam sheller softens the oak
so the staves will bend easily
inside the
barrel-shaping machine
known as the Buffalo.
The Buffalo machine
seals the barrels.
It does that in three stages.
The first stage here
installs a second set of rings
around the barrel.
The second stage
spins the barrel
to true up all the staves
so they meet one
another perfectly.
The third stage pushes the rings
on so hard that when it's done,
the tension in each
ring is about 10 tons,
and that crushes
the wood together
and creates the perfect seal.
Next, the barrels move along
to one of the most
important steps
in making Tennessee whiskey,
charring the oak.
Wow, it is getting hot in here.
I'm getting out of here.
Tennessee whiskey has to be aged
in these charred
white-oak barrels.
That is hot. Wow.
Here's how this works.
Each barrel
straddles a gas burner,
which then shoots a flame
through the
center of the barrel,
charring the inside.
Water then sprays
up through the hole
to stop the wood from burning.
Ahh!
Fresh charred white-oak barrels.
Mike, how long's it
take to char a barrel?
23 seconds.
23 seconds.
Now, what if you
leave it in too long?
Jack will still accept them.
But it does make
the char deeper.
Jack don't like a deep char.
Jack ain't nothing
without a good char,
because charring has
as much to do with flavor
as it does with color.
UNGER: We're, like,
toasting a marshmallow here.
BLOOMFIELD: Exactly.
That's perfect because there's
a lot of sugars in the wood.
And when you heat
them up nice and hot,
they turn into these
caramel, toffee,
butterscotch flavors, like
a toasted marshmallow.
And over the seasons, as
the whiskey's aging in this,
the pores in the
wood open and close,
and they sort of draw the
liquid in, put it out, in, out,
and the flavors leak
into the whiskey.
And about half the flavor
of the finished whiskey
came from the wood.
All the color came from
the tannin in the wood.
So, without the barrel,
we would never have that
real Tennessee whiskey flavor,
would we?
No.
UNGER: Well, now
with the critical step
of this charring
complete for our barrels,
they're gonna move
on down the line,
where they'll put heads on these
barrels and permanent hoops.
These are temporary.
They'll move even
further on to inspection.
And we're getting very close
to putting whiskey in our barrels.
We're almost there.
But the two heads, or ends,
get cut, fashioned, and charred
the same way the
rest of the barrel does.
Now, to seal the
heads to the barrel,
they're rolled in beeswax,
which acts as
an airtight sealant
between the heads
and the staves.
Because the heat from
charring shrinks those staves,
tighter steel
hoops are attached,
and, finally, our barrels
move on down the line.
Time now to drill a hole in this
through which we'll
pour our whiskey.
It's called a bunghole,
and that's what
this machine does.
It's called a bunger.
Oh, yeah. It's a good bunghole.
This is David Johnson.
He's the bunger man.
This is where you wax
your... You wax the bunghole?
Yeah.
- Wax the bung.
- There you go.
Okay. So, the bung's good.
Tightly fitted in the bunghole.
Stick this in the bung, right?
It's a rubber bung.
Tap your...
UNGER: It's gonna
put a gallon of water in.
Is that enough to really test?
Yes, it is. Okay.
The barrel is injected
with a mixture of water
and pressurized air.
This will expose
any potential leaks
by forcing water
between the staves.
[Laughs]
Aw, man, I hate when
my bunghole does that.
After these barrels go
through a final inspection,
the ones that don't leak
are loaded onto trucks bound
for Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Well, all this work, and
we only got a barrel.
Where we're headed
next... The distillery.
It's there we're gonna find out
what makes Tennessee whiskey
so different from
any other whiskey.
Well, we're on our way
to actually see the water
from which they make
Jack Daniel's Whiskey...
From the water in which they've
always made it and always will.
And we have the honor
of being with the master
distiller, Jimmy Bedford.
You're really only the
sixth master distiller
that Jack Daniel's has ever had.
BEDFORD: Jack
Daniel being the first one,
and I'm the sixth one.
In the 1860s,
Jack Daniel set up his
distillery here in Lynchburg
because of the
purity of the water
in this natural cave spring.
- UNGER: What's the temperature?
- 56 degrees.
It'll run that way year-round.
BLOOMFIELD: It's a hard water.
Although it's mineral-free in
that it doesn't have iron in it,
it's got a lot of calcium in it.
The limestone is
washing along in the water,
and that adds a flavor to it.
You know, the only thing
that would make
this water taste better
is if it were just all whiskey
coming out of that cave.
Each day, 300,000
gallons of water
flow from the cave
spring to the distillery,
where it meets up with
the other main ingredients.
These trucks roll in here 24/7,
bringing in these raw materials.
This happens to be barley malt.
Now, the mixture
that Jack Daniel's uses
is 80% corn, 8% rye,
and 12% barley malt.
All these grains are ground
and mixed together
with cave water,
creating what's known as mash.
Now, this mash is heated
to break down the
starches in the grains,
turning them into sugar.
Jack Daniel's also adds 20%
of something called sour mash...
Leftovers from the previous
batch of fermented mash.
Sour mash helps maintain
the consistency of flavor
from batch to batch.
Now, we're ready to
mix the mash with yeast
to make alcohol, a process
known as fermentation.
In goes our mash into these
40,000-gallon fermenting tanks.
And, basically, what they
can do here at Jack Daniel's
is just hook into their
piping system up here,
and they start filling.
How long will this
take to fill, Kevin?
KEVIN: Each mash cooker
takes 20 minutes to pump out.
We have four mash cookers,
so it will be about an
hour and 20 minutes.
An hour and 20
minutes. All right.
KEVIN: Then we'll swap this
line over to the next fermenter
and just keep going.
At the bottom of the fermenter,
the yeast has already
been pumped in there.
You can smell that yeast.
See that very fruity smell?
Yeah.
That is a highly active yeast
ready to start consuming
the fermentable sugars
that are in this mash.
UNGER: At this point, it
would be sweet, wouldn't it?
I mean, if we
were to taste this.
Yes, this is a very sweet...
What we do is, in
the mashing process...
UNGER: It's like
cornmeal at this point.
It's good.
It takes four to seven
days to ferment the mash.
During that time,
the yeast converts
the sugars into alcohol,
giving off carbon
dioxide as a by-product.
Once the mash is fermented,
we'll separate the
alcohol from the grains,
and that means distillation.
Well, Jimmy Bedford and I,
the master distiller
here at Jack Daniel's,
are in the distillation room.
And this is really where
our mash mixture...
The sour mash, the
yeast, and all that water...
Really start to
look like alcohol.
This is the still that
goes all the way up.
BEDFORD: About
60 feet tall up in there.
Layers of trays are
stacked inside this still.
- BEDFORD: 17 trays.
- UNGER: 17.
The fermented mash makes its way
back and forth
across these trays,
and as it does, the
alcohol vaporizes
from the heated mash
and collects in
the top of the still.
Then it passes
through a series of coils,
which cool and condense
the vapor into liquid.
Now, the result is 140-proof
natural grain alcohol
flowing at the rate of
60 gallons per minute.
If we were to
put this in barrels
the way it is right there,
that would be an ordinary
whiskey, wouldn't it?
Yes. It wouldn't be a
Tennessee whiskey.
It would not be a
Tennessee whiskey.
So, in order for it to qualify
as Tennessee whiskey,
- we're going to add a step here.
- One step.
And it's that step
that makes Jack Daniel's
a Tennessee whiskey
and not a Kentucky bourbon.
This distinction
in flavor is gained
through a filtering process
known as charcoal mellowing.
And to do that, we got
to make some charcoal.
Jerry Hamilton is a
production manager here,
and we're really entering...
The name is on the
building... The Rickyard.
- These are our ricks.
- These are the ricks.
And what we're gonna do is
we're gonna let these ricks...
We'll bring them
on the premises,
and we'll keep them
here for about six months.
And at the end
of the six months,
they're about ready to burn.
We could use lighter fluid, but
that would pollute the whiskey.
So instead, we're
gonna light this stuff
with 140-proof Jack
Daniel's Tennessee whiskey.
UNGER: This would
actually be not a bad way
to light your own
charcoal, wouldn't it?
Put some whiskey on it instead
of using a charcoal lighter.
- Yeah, just use Jack Daniel's.
- Use J.D.
HAMILTON: Kind of expensive.
It would be a little
expensive, wouldn't it?
These ricks burn
for about 45 minutes.
All I'm missing here is
a hot dog and a stick.
Right now, we're
making charcoal,
and the way that I know
that we're making charcoal
is the fire has virtually died.
You know how I
know we're doing it?
- How's that?
- It's like standing on the sun.
HAMILTON: Well,
this is a reminder
of what it's gonna be
like in the hereafter.
What are you presuming
about me, Jerry?
- UNGER: So, do I hit that?
- HAMILTON: Yep.
So, what we're
just trying to do here
is make sure that our
charcoal stays charcoal
and not a big pile of ash,
'cause you can't filter
whiskey through ash.
Basically, I have to keep
this pile as black as possible.
And wherever any white
embers start coming up,
I got to douse them... quick.
Once the charcoal cools,
it's ground into smaller pieces
and then poured
into 10-foot-deep
charcoal-mellowing vats.
Jerry, I noticed
something about this room
in which we do the
charcoal mellowing.
That it's very mellow in here.
It's a very mellow
plant. [Laughs]
UNGER: Down here, down
below is where you really see
the bulk work of
these mellowing vats.
- How many are down here, Jerry?
- 60 of them.
So, this is where
you're gonna drain off
what has been mellowed?
HAMILTON: Correct.
Charcoal mellowing
improves the flavor of whiskey
the same way that a water filter
takes tap water and
cleans up the off-flavors.
Basically, there's tremendous
surface area in this charcoal.
It's very porous.
There are actually
square miles of surface,
and certain molecules
stick to that surface.
And those are the
off-flavors of whiskey.
So, by the time the whiskey's
dripped through this
entire 10 feet of charcoal,
the off-flavors are gone,
and all you have is
clean, clear whiskey.
The mellowing is complete,
and finally, Shawn Sullinger and I
are gonna put the alcohol
into our charred-oak barrels.
- SULLINGER: All right.
- Now, you just spin the barrel?
SULLINGER: Spin the
barrel. Shove it down in there.
And then hold it
and hit the red button.
- UNGER: Let go?
- SULLINGER: Let go.
Oh, yeah. Magic moment.
We're finally putting our
whiskey into our barrels,
the barrels we made up
in Louisville, Kentucky.
Oh, yeah!
Sometimes these bungs don't
fit down in the hole so good.
Well, sometimes the
holes are drilled different
from the small bunghole.
You just really got to...
beat it in.
UNGER: You just got to have
your way with the bunghole.
You just got to really
just slap it real hard. Yeah.
Okay.
We're ready to roll these out.
Like wine, whiskey's got to age.
So each day, they
ship the barrels
to one of the many
warehouses in this county,
which is, ironically,
a dry county.
Now, collectively,
these warehouses
hold up to 1.8 million barrels.
Yes, there are 90
million gallons of whiskey
in them thar hills.
And it's Benny Reese's
job to stock all those barrels.
So, what's the
motto, here, Benny?
REESE: We keep things rolling.
[Unger laughs]
All right.
All you got to do
is hit your lever.
- Down?
- Up. There.
See, I'm not gonna
do it all for you.
That's to hold
that barrel steady.
- Now, get your other hand...
- UNGER: Right here.
Yeah, hit it up just one time.
So, my motto is just keep
it rolling... some of the time.
Okay.
We're gonna cut it
straight off onto this pan.
There it is.
Okay, good. All right.
We got to let this
sit for four years.
Should we go have
a really long lunch?
Jack Daniel's whiskeys
mature four to seven years,
depending on the label.
Now, during that time,
seasonal temperature changes
causes the barrels to
expand and contract,
allowing the whiskey to
flow in and out of the cracks
in the charred oak.
As the whiskey does that,
it picks up its
characteristic color
and much of its flavor.
Now, Jack Daniel's
is matured properly
when, and only when,
master distiller Jimmy
Bedford gives his blessing.
Now, you've got your sample.
Now, I'm not allowed
to drink this here.
- Is that right?
- Well, right.
We can smell of it and...
[Laughs]
Just wanted the see what's...
Boy, that smells good.
BEDFORD: Every bit of that color
comes from that
white-oak barrel.
What do you know about
that whiskey right there
that you're smelling?
When we first got
it out, we could see
that it had matured
with the color to it.
But then, when you smell of it,
pick up that toasted-oat,
caramel, vanilla aroma there,
then you know it's gone
through the maturing process.
Boy, it's just a shame
that we can't just take a
drink right here, isn't it?
For real. I'm not
allowed to drink it.
All right.
Now, years ago, we...
- [Laughs]
- Years ago...
Mibs. Taw.
Keepsies. Commies.
This the vernacular of
the highly competitive sport
of marbles.
This is a cat's-eye.
It's a clear marble
with a little blue
sort of streak in there.
We're gonna make
these marbles today.
Because we want to find out...
We're in Paden
City, West Virginia,
a place where marbles
outnumber humans 400 to 1.
It's home to Marble King,
one of the last bastions
of marble manufacturing
in America.
A place where old
glass gets a second life.
You know, the marble
business is not exactly pretty.
At first glance, it
sort of looks like
some old guy should
probably clean up his yard.
But, actually, these are the
raw materials for marbles.
They start out this way,
like someone's pretty
ugly bathroom set.
You know, the
seashell and the starfish.
They wind up here.
This is all recycled glass.
It's not just tchotchkes
that end up as marbles...
That's the most
adorable piece of glass.
[Glass shattering]
but also trash...
This represents just one
game night in America.
A remnant of a parfait glass...
A perfume bottle...
Chanel number...
Who gives a crap?
And knickknacks
with slight defects.
Was this a rooster
ornamentation gone bad?
Is that what this is?
This was a fine set
- of rooster...
- Something.
Rooster glass that someone...
I was gonna buy a
collection of rooster glass.
A lot of people do.
This one maybe
didn't work out so well,
- and it wound up here.
- That's right.
Marble King needs
4.5 tons of glass
to make their daily
production of 1 million marbles.
And it's up to company
president Beri Fox
to make sure it's
all sorted correctly.
- You're going through a lot.
- FOX: We are.
A lot of little frogs
and a lot of eggs.
A lot of eggs, a lot
of broken pieces,
but that saves all of that
- from going into a landfill.
- Yeah.
How did West Virginia become
the marble capital of the world?
How did that happen?
Why West Virginia?
Because there's a lot
of natural resources here
that are plentiful that help
offset some of our costs.
I thought it was because
there's a lot of people
that are breaking
glass by accident.
No, that's not it, no. We're
not glass breakers by nature.
[Glass shattering]
One thing you
can honestly say...
West Virginia is a state
with all of its marbles.
- With all its marbles.
- [Laughs]
You can't avoid
the puns, can you?
You just can't. I
hear 'em all, all day.
- The jokes write themselves.
- They do.
To make our cat's-eye
marble, Ronnie Wright and I
need to melt clear
and blue glass together.
Now, do I just fill this up?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
We start with the clear glass.
[Humming]
You want to weigh
it out 75 pounds.
- 75 pounds?
- Yeah, you want 75 pounds.
And then we're gonna take
this and dump it into the furnace?
Yeah.
Marble King melts glass
in a furnace built by hand
and keeps it running at
a steady 2,300 degrees.
I'm not gonna burn myself, am I?
- No.
- Okay, good.
"No." I-I don't...
You're supposed to
comfort me in this moment
and say, "No, it
is perfectly safe."
Yeah, it's safe.
[Chuckles]
Making marbles
is a 24/7 operation,
so they feed this
furnace constantly.
How many times a day
will you be doing this...
Filling these up, putting
them in that furnace?
You do it every 20 minutes.
Every 20 minutes
75 pounds goes in?
I bet you're sick of glass
by the end of the day.
No.
- Huh?
- No.
Do you use Styrofoam cups
at home and just paper plates?
No.
- Just so sick of glass?
- Yeah.
That's what I would do.
Now, it will take this batch
of glass eight hours to melt.
Right at the moment,
the glass that's beginning
to melt here looks like taffy.
By the time it gets to the
end, it will be pure liquid.
We're making
marbles at Marble King
in Paden City, West Virginia.
Our clear glass is melting
and flowing like a river
from the back of this
furnace to the front,
where it will come out
looking like a sphere.
But just before these
molten marble droplets form
is when we put the
eye in the cat's-eye.
Watch yourself.
This stuff will cut you.
UNGER: This will cut me.
THOMPSON: Do
you have any gloves?
- Do I have any gloves?
- Yeah.
Someone get me some gloves?
Here, hold on a second.
Marble maker Kevin Thompson...
He doesn't need any gloves.
You're just gonna
use your bare hands?
I get cut all the time.
It don't matter to me.
Take this roller so
we get it small enough
so it crushes up in there
and it will melt easy enough.
If you want to, you can
walk on it and it will break it.
It will make it easier.
Walk back and forth
and roll that like that.
This is all right, but, like,
these bigger pieces, like this,
you don't want them like that.
- I need that to be smaller.
- THOMPSON: Yep.
The glass pieces are
finally small enough
to add to the clear glass
already melted in the furnace.
So, it's like the most efficient
glass-breaking operation going.
I feel right at home here.
Well, it's time to
add the blue glass,
which is done at the
front of the machine
where it joins our
molten river of glass.
UNGER: Down the hole it goes?
THOMPSON: Yeah,
right up in there.
Easy as you can.
Now pick straight
up on the handle.
There you go. Just like that.
Well, this is the moment
we've been waiting for.
Our cat's-eye.
Now, inside the furnace,
the blue glass melts
with the clear glass,
but rather than disappear
into the clear glass,
the blue glass maintains
its own unique structure,
forming blue vein like
streaks that form the cat's-eye.
Balls of red-hot glass are cut
and dropped onto the rollers,
which then shape the
glass into round marbles.
These look like big corkscrews.
But explain to me what's
happening here, Jason.
I know that you're cutting off
these pieces of
molten hot glass.
But what's happening
on these screws exactly?
The process coming
through the rolls
is actually rounding
out the marble.
UNGER: It rounds
it out as it cools,
- right?
- Yes.
But it still has to be hot
enough and malleable enough,
right, to form into that sphere?
As they travel along the
rollers, the marbles cool,
slowly hardening
with our blue cat's-eye
permanently suspended inside.
The marbles start
at 1,950 degrees
at this end of the rollers.
They're down to 1,100
by the time they leave.
And they're still 900 when
they get to the buckets.
To show you just how
hot those marbles still are,
we can put some paper in.
There they go.
Our cat's-eyes have
been shaped and cooled
into perfect spheres,
but not every one will
get past Jason Wayne.
We're doing a little quality
control here with our cat's-eye.
What are you
looking for, exactly?
WAYNE: Broken
pieces, cracked pieces.
Anything that don't
have a full stripe.
UNGER: So, you inspect
all of these by hand?
Yeah.
That's a lot of
marbles to look at.
Oh, yeah.
Here's one you
would reject, right?
1 million marbles.
Packaged and ready to go.
A whole day making
marbles, and I'm itching to play.
Now, how many
marbles are in the rack?
- BAUER: 13.
- UNGER: 13 marbles?
Who better to
teach me how to play
than marble champions
Alex Bauer and Ricky Brody?
Um, okay.
Do you guys want to
trash-talk each other first?
Do you want to just pace
around the marble court?
In a nutshell,
players take turns
knocking target
marbles out of a circle
with a larger shooter
marble that's known as a taw.
Now, a taw is like a tennis
player's favorite racket.
And if you lose it, it's
bad. Very, very bad.
WOMAN: Was it your, uh...
National Champion shooter?
UNGER: Oh, don't
even tell me that.
BRODY: What?
UNGER: Oh, Rick.
No, we're gonna
find this marble.
If we have to put
it on a milk carton,
we're gonna do that, too.
FOX: Got more people
down on their hands and knees
than church.
UNGER: I haven't
seen a community
come together like this since
Baby Jessica fell down a well.
MAN: We probably stepped it in.
MAN #2: Yeah.
UNGER: Yay!
Yes!
FOX: He got it!
Our director, Brian
Leonard, gets the marble.
Yes, he does!
Would someone please
give me a marble I can lose?
Well, it is a beautiful
day in Edgewater, Florida.
The sun is setting
over my shoulder
here over the Intracoastal.
And the only thing
that could ruin this day
is if my boat would sink.
But I have complete
confidence that won't happen,
even in a boat that's
been cut in half...
because I'm in the
unsinkable boat.
Well, we're at Boston
Whaler to find out.
Well, the story of
our unsinkable boat
here at Boston Whaler
begins with these molds.
This is the liner,
and this is the hull.
And what gets a little
complicated in this assembly
is this thought.
These are not the actual boats,
even though they look like
a boat turned upside down
and this looks like
a big orange boat.
These are actually molds
on which we will build
layer upon layer of material.
We build the boat
from the outside in.
Then we'll glue the
two pieces together
to make a single boat.
In this case, the Dauntless 230.
Cassie and I are getting
ready to prep the mold.
This is the surface on which
we're going to layer our boat.
- This is your release agent.
- My release agent.
You just want to put
enough on to where it's wet.
And then you just wipe it.
Now, this release agent
is akin to putting shortening
on a baking pan, isn't it?
We want to be able
to separate the material
from the mold eventually,
and this is what
makes that possible.
So, we have to make sure
we get all this release agent
in every nook and cranny.
In about an hour, we're
finished prepping our molds.
So, I'm standing in the
mold that we just waxed.
This is the hull of
the Dauntless 230.
And, in a moment,
we're going to apply
the first coat of laminate.
This is called a gel coat.
So, Eric, what is a gel coat?
ERIC: Gel coat is a
vinyl-polyester resin.
It's impregnated with color,
Whaler White being this
specific color for this part.
And that's all it is.
It's pretty much a really
durable colored resin,
like the paint of a car
just a lot more durable.
Now, applying the
exterior coat first
may seem a little strange,
like painting a house
before you've even built it.
But this ultrathin coating
is the outermost
surface of the boat.
98% of this coat is resin,
which makes it impervious
to salt water and U. V. rays.
Eric and I will now apply
the gel coat to the liner.
I pretty much go like
water. I work with gravity.
I'll start on the top and
let it work its way down.
That way, any overspray
goes straight down.
The entire coat should
be exactly 20 mils thick,
about the width of
five pieces of paper.
20 mils. 3 dots. Perfect.
3 dots. 20 mils.
Actually, that way.
Do it up and down.
Yes.
- Doesn't that look beautiful?
- That looks great.
It's time now for what
is called a skin coat.
This is really the application
of our first coat
of fiberglass, right?
This is really sort
of all working toward
keeping our boat
durable and strong.
- Yes. It's like a skeleton.
- A skeleton.
We're sort of building
that for our hull right now.
Do we just dump buckets
of this stuff in here?
- Start spraying.
- Spraying.
It's all done with
kind of a gun?
Chop gun.
A chop gun? What's a chop gun?
MAN: A chop gun is a gun
that sprays out resin,
catalyst, and chop.
Chop is actually a
durable substance
we know as fiberglass... resin
and catalyst bonded together.
Why do they use fiberglass?
What's the magic of it?
It seems counterintuitive.
Glass sounds fragile.
But by the time you
reduce it to fibers,
this is the stuff you're
spraying down on that boat.
And the actual
fibers... Look carefully.
They're hair-thin. They're
thinner than a human hair.
And they lose their fragility.
Glass becomes really
almost unbreakable
when you make it so fine.
UNGER: There has already
been one coat of fiberglass
applied to the
bottom of this liner.
And we're now gonna do
a second coat of fiberglass.
- This is called the bulk coat.
- Yeah.
UNGER: This is primarily
for strength and durability,
right, that we put on
the bottom of this liner?
What are some of the pitfalls
that you got to look out for
when you're putting
this fiberglass on?
You mainly want to be careful
around these radiuses
and stuff right here.
It's a very crucial part.
It's time to take
this inner liner,
pick it up with these
hoists, flip it 180 degrees,
move it down, and set it
right down inside the hull.
This they call the
closing at Boston Whaler,
and they'll fasten
these two together.
And, eventually,
we'll inject foam in
between these two pieces.
That will be a little bit later.
And all of these
materials will join together
in a nice, composite
material that is... unsinkable.
"Some Assembly Required"
is in Edgewater, Florida,
at Boston Whaler,
and we are building
the unsinkable boat.
We're taking this...
The liner and the hull...
Into the foaming room,
where we're going to
inject foam in between here,
really pack it tight.
They'll all bond, make
a composite material,
and that will really
form the foundation
of the unsinkable Boston Whaler.
Operator Jody Coil
shows us how it's done.
UNGER: How much foam
are we gonna put in here,
pack that interior with foam?
- How much?
- 420 pounds.
420 pounds.
In 28 seconds.
UNGER: So, should we fire it up?
- You ready?
- Ready, Jody.
COIL: Fire in the hull.
Fire in the hull!
So, is this now...
Oh, there it goes.
Okay, follow me.
This machine pumps
in two liquid chemicals,
an isocyanate and a polyol.
They make urethane.
A little water
added to the polyol
generates carbon-dioxide
gas to create foam.
It's gurgling in there.
[Laughing] Yeah!
UNGER: So, we really
can't see this mixture
being poured into this cavity.
So, you have a test box
that can actually show
us what that's doing, right?
- Whoa!
- There it goes.
You can see, it's
just a liquid right now.
There's almost no carbon
dioxide generated yet.
During this chemical reaction,
the foam can heat
up to 200 degrees
and take almost 24
hours to cool down.
UNGER: Now, how much
pressure is it putting on the sides?
BLOOMFIELD: Not
very much, in this case,
because we don't
have it clamped closed.
But in the boat,
it's clamped closed,
and it's packed in there.
A lot of pressure.
That foam is tough,
but it's also light.
And that's the key to
building a Boston Whaler.
So, that high pressure
building up inside
is causing that expansion?
BLOOMFIELD:
Yeah, and pretty soon
it's gonna come flying out here.
Inside the mold,
the foam clings to the outer
shell of the boat and hardens,
binding the two halves
of the whaler together.
There are no vacancies inside,
no place for
water to pool at all.
It's really a great way of
making a truly unsinkable boat.
It'll sit overnight.
Then they will
release these clasps
and take what is inside...
This liner and this hull
and that foam in between...
And go to the trim shop.
Scott Clarkson
runs the trim shop.
When you pull these
two molds apart,
you get a little bit
of mess down here.
You get this sort of flashing.
This is just the fiberglass
combined with our gel coat
and all those coats
of resin and catalyst
to kind of form this
crust, like on a bread,
that we've got to take off.
All right! Let's do
some trimming!
Can I try cutting this one?
This is a very
delicate operation.
If you trim too closely,
you actually cut into
the surface of the boat.
I did just actually cut
a little too far into it.
They tell me here
that it can be fixed.
If not, just send the bill
to Discovery Channel.
This is the final
assembly area here,
where the unsinkable
boat gets finished.
This is where the
boats get their guts...
The wiring and the tanks
and all the myriad accessories
that people have ordered
to put on these boats.
And, finally, it's
coming together.
Stan, what are
we putting in here?
Run it down for
me, if you would.
Okay, in station one,
you're gonna start out
with whatever options
come with the boat.
Okay.
Minibar?
I guess if you wanted
to have one, you could.
Behind that, the box. I
can lift the box if you want.
That's the porta-potty.
That would be the most
important thing, next to the bar.
Oh, yeah.
Porta-potty.
[Both laugh]
At station two,
we add the bells and
whistles, like the console.
Climb on in there if you want.
Get a feel for it.
Really not that hard
to get in and out.
So, basically,
I'm underneath where the
captain would be driving.
And what goes on here is where
someone goes to the bathroom.
- Excuse me.
- [Toilet flushes]
So, in these last two stages,
a 6-cylinder engine goes on,
inspectors give their sign-off,
and, finally, our
unsinkable boat is born.
It's been a long day, huh?
And after a hard day's work,
it's time to take
her out for a spin.
Do not try this at
home, but this is how
an unsinkable boat
stays afloat forever.
- Is that right, Boston Whaler?
- ALL: Yeah!