Assembly Line

Machining

Cutting tools remove material until only the part remains. It is slower than forming but reaches very tight tolerances.

85 lines that use it

Acoustic guitar 8 stations · 16 raw sources Action figure 7 stations · 22 raw sources Airliner 9 stations · 33 raw sources Ball bearing 9 stations · 13 raw sources Ballpoint pen 7 stations · 27 raw sources Baseball bat 5 stations · 9 raw sources Billiard ball 9 stations · 21 raw sources Bowling ball 8 stations · 23 raw sources Brass 6 stations · 12 raw sources Bronze 5 stations · 6 raw sources Bronze bell 6 stations · 8 raw sources Bronze statue 7 stations · 9 raw sources Button 8 stations · 8 raw sources Car engine 8 stations · 18 raw sources Cello 10 stations · 13 raw sources Chess set 9 stations · 13 raw sources Chopsticks 6 stations · 10 raw sources Clothespin 7 stations · 12 raw sources Coil spring 7 stations · 21 raw sources Credit card 7 stations · 23 raw sources Cricket bat 7 stations · 9 raw sources Dice 7 stations · 21 raw sources Die-cast toy car 8 stations · 24 raw sources Door hinge 7 stations · 18 raw sources Drum kit 8 stations · 19 raw sources Dumbbell 8 stations · 20 raw sources Electric guitar 8 stations · 22 raw sources Eyeglass frame 8 stations · 28 raw sources Faucet 11 stations · 23 raw sources Flying disc 7 stations · 15 raw sources Gas cylinder 10 stations · 25 raw sources Granite countertop 6 stations · 1 raw source Hammer 8 stations · 21 raw sources Hard-shell suitcase 6 stations · 22 raw sources Hardwood flooring 6 stations · 7 raw sources Harmonica 8 stations · 19 raw sources Hip implant 9 stations · 22 raw sources Incandescent light bulb 7 stations · 11 raw sources Jigsaw puzzle 7 stations · 18 raw sources Key 6 stations · 13 raw sources Laminate flooring 6 stations · 19 raw sources Leather belt 10 stations · 28 raw sources Leather handbag 6 stations · 20 raw sources Leather wallet 10 stations · 15 raw sources Loudspeaker 10 stations · 19 raw sources Lumber 6 stations · 1 raw source Mechanical wristwatch 6 stations · 26 raw sources Nail 6 stations · 14 raw sources Oak wine barrel 7 stations · 12 raw sources Olympic-style medal 8 stations · 12 raw sources Orbital rocket 7 stations · 22 raw sources Padlock 7 stations · 25 raw sources Pencil 8 stations · 24 raw sources Plywood 6 stations · 8 raw sources Popsicle stick 6 stations · 1 raw source Power outlet 6 stations · 18 raw sources Pressure cooker 8 stations · 18 raw sources Printed circuit board 8 stations · 18 raw sources Prosthetic leg 6 stations · 15 raw sources Saxophone 9 stations · 25 raw sources Scissors 8 stations · 22 raw sources Skateboard 8 stations · 22 raw sources Ski 8 stations · 24 raw sources Smartwatch 9 stations · 31 raw sources Steel wire 7 stations · 12 raw sources Subway train 8 stations · 27 raw sources Sunglasses 9 stations · 15 raw sources Surfboard 8 stations · 14 raw sources Synthetic graphite 6 stations · 2 raw sources Tennis racket 9 stations · 25 raw sources Toothpick 6 stations · 1 raw source Trumpet 7 stations · 18 raw sources Turbine blade 8 stations · 20 raw sources Utility pole 5 stations · 1 raw source Vacuum flask 6 stations · 19 raw sources Vinyl record 9 stations · 24 raw sources Violin 8 stations · 13 raw sources Wheelchair 6 stations · 15 raw sources White rice 6 stations · 1 raw source Wooden chair 6 stations · 21 raw sources Wooden door 6 stations · 11 raw sources Wooden spoon 5 stations · 7 raw sources Wool blanket 5 stations · 9 raw sources Wrench 9 stations · 20 raw sources Yo-yo 8 stations · 18 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

  • Car engineBore the cylinders. Cutting tools drill and bore each cylinder to size, and honing leaves a fine cross-hatch finish. The piston must slide in the cylinder with almost no gap.
  • CelloCarve the neck and scroll. The neck, pegbox and scroll are roughly cut from one block of maple and hand-carved with planes, chisels and scrapers, then fitted to the body.
  • WrenchBroach the jaws. A broach, a bar whose teeth each stand slightly taller than the last, is pulled through the opening until it reaches the exact size for a bolt head.
  • White riceRemove the husk. Dehusking machines peel off the inedible husk. What comes out is brown rice, still wearing its bran and germ.
  • LumberStrip the bark. Logs arrive at the mill and go through a debarker that scrubs the bark off. The bark is not wasted. Mills burn it for heat or sell it as landscaping mulch.
  • Action figureSculpt the master. A sculptor starts from a sketch and works through several rounds of art-directed sculpts. Hair and faces may be sculpted by hand or on a computer.
  • Wool blanketDry and raise the nap. The blanket is dried, then a raising machine brushes the surface and pulls up tiny fiber ends. The raised nap traps warm air and gives the cloth its soft feel.
  • BronzeMachine to size. Bronze parts are finished by turning and grinding. They are tough and have low friction against other metals, which is why they are used for bearings, bushings, springs and electrical connectors.
  • ChopsticksShape the taper. Tools or a sanding belt round the sticks and taper them toward the tip. Some end square and narrow to a cylindrical point, and others are round all the way.
  • Bronze statueChip, weld and chase. Once cool, the shell is chipped away and the sprues are cut off with a saw. Gas holes are welded, and tool marks are polished out.
  • CelloBuild the mold. A mold made to the exact inside measurements of the cello shapes and holds the body while it is glued. Templates for the back and top plates are made at the same time.
  • HammerTurn the handle. Selected ash is cut to size, turned on a lathe, polished and protected. Steel-handled hammers instead use a rod pressed through a shaped hole.