Assembly Line

Laminating and layering

Thin sheets are bonded together so the stack has properties none of the layers has alone.

69 lines that use it

Acoustic guitar 8 stations · 16 raw sources Adhesive bandage 7 stations · 12 raw sources Airliner 9 stations · 33 raw sources Asphalt shingle 5 stations · 14 raw sources Baseball 7 stations · 22 raw sources Baseball cap 6 stations · 12 raw sources Basketball 8 stations · 20 raw sources Board game 6 stations · 18 raw sources Book 6 stations · 19 raw sources Bubble wrap 5 stations · 3 raw sources Candy cane 7 stations · 14 raw sources Canoe 7 stations · 13 raw sources Cardboard 6 stations · 9 raw sources Carpet 6 stations · 8 raw sources Computer keyboard 6 stations · 25 raw sources Credit card 7 stations · 23 raw sources Croissant 7 stations · 12 raw sources Digital camera 8 stations · 32 raw sources Disposable diaper 6 stations · 9 raw sources Double-glazed window 6 stations · 18 raw sources Dress shirt 7 stations · 12 raw sources Drum kit 8 stations · 19 raw sources Drywall 7 stations · 8 raw sources Duct tape 6 stations · 12 raw sources E-reader 6 stations · 30 raw sources Envelope 6 stations · 18 raw sources Jigsaw puzzle 7 stations · 18 raw sources Kitchen sponge 7 stations · 13 raw sources Kite 10 stations · 14 raw sources Laminate flooring 6 stations · 19 raw sources LCD screen 6 stations · 19 raw sources Leather handbag 6 stations · 20 raw sources Mattress 6 stations · 16 raw sources Mirror 5 stations · 28 raw sources N95 mask 8 stations · 7 raw sources OLED screen 6 stations · 16 raw sources Paper bag 6 stations · 10 raw sources Paper straw 6 stations · 10 raw sources Pencil 8 stations · 24 raw sources Piano 8 stations · 15 raw sources Pizza box 5 stations · 18 raw sources Playing cards 6 stations · 18 raw sources Plywood 6 stations · 8 raw sources Polyvinyl butyral 6 stations · 5 raw sources Printed circuit board 8 stations · 18 raw sources Prosthetic leg 6 stations · 15 raw sources Raincoat 7 stations · 17 raw sources Sailboat 11 stations · 21 raw sources Sanitary pad 7 stations · 10 raw sources Satellite 11 stations · 29 raw sources Shoelace 5 stations · 12 raw sources Silk tie 7 stations · 10 raw sources Skateboard 8 stations · 22 raw sources Ski 8 stations · 24 raw sources Smartphone 6 stations · 30 raw sources Smartwatch 9 stations · 31 raw sources Snowboard 10 stations · 23 raw sources Soccer ball 7 stations · 17 raw sources Solar panel 11 stations · 21 raw sources Staple 6 stations · 14 raw sources Surfboard 8 stations · 14 raw sources Tailored suit 7 stations · 12 raw sources Tennis ball 8 stations · 10 raw sources Tennis racket 9 stations · 25 raw sources Toilet paper 6 stations · 9 raw sources Vinyl flooring 8 stations · 18 raw sources Wind turbine 6 stations · 25 raw sources Windshield 8 stations · 20 raw sources Wooden door 6 stations · 11 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

  • Credit cardLaminate under heat. The stack goes into a heating tower, then transfers automatically to a cooling tower under pressure. What once took hours now takes minutes, and it fuses layers and stripe into one slab.
  • Silk tieInsert the wool lining. A soft inner layer of wool is laid inside the silk. It gives the tie its body and spring, and the gold bars on it show the weight of the wool.
  • Tailored suitBuild the jacket canvas. Canvas is soaked and air dried, then shaped and attached inside the front of the jacket, either stitched or fused with adhesive. It gives the chest and lapel their curve and keeps the jacket balanced on the body.
  • Wooden doorGlue up the panels. Narrow boards are glued edge to edge into wide panels. Panels may instead be made from plywood or MDF, which move far less than solid wood.
  • CanoeReinforce the stress points. Partial layers go only where strain or impact is worst. Clipper puts at least two layers of Kevlar in the bow and stern of its fiberglass canoes.
  • KiteGlue and mark. Those patches get glued on at the nose, spine and wingtips, and a template marks the sail. It gets a check before the last sewing.
  • Computer keyboardStack the switch layers. Two printed sheets are stacked with a spacer between them. When a key presses them together, the contacts touch and complete a circuit.
  • OLED screenSeal against air. The organic stack is sealed beneath a barrier layer or glass cover, because moisture and oxygen degrade the films.
  • Solar panelLaminate under heat. In a chamber with vacuum and pressure control, the stack is heated until the milky EVA cross-links into a clear plastic that bonds cells, glass and back sheet for good.
  • Adhesive bandageRelaminate the stack. The scored release strip returns to its old position on the bandage strip and covers the center layer, which keeps the wound side untouched from here on.
  • SnowboardLay up in an aluminum form. The base goes into a machined aluminum form made for that model and size. On top go epoxy, rubber strips, fiberglass, more epoxy, the wood core, more fiberglass and resin, and the topsheet. An experienced builder can do this in 10 minutes.
  • Sanitary padLay the top sheet. A thermally bonded nonwoven fabric covers the core on the side that touches the body. It passes fluid quickly to the center and stays soft.