Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. We’re at the Kodak Film Factory in Rochester, New York, and this is the third of three videos. In the first video, we looked at the backing and how they make it. We learned about films with Estar backing and the incredible engineering involved in taking plastic pellets and melting, extruding, and stretching them over a continuous process. In the second video, we took the wide roll and applied a light sensitive coating with a laminar flow waterfall. Everything is happening in the dark, with multiple layers applied at once with special kettles. Now, we have to figure out how to cut the film up so that it’s small enough to put into a camera. We have to slit the film and put sprocket holes in it, and then build a can to put the film in. After that, we have to put the can into a box. We’re going to start right here at the Slitter and meet Tim, the operator. He can do this with his eyes shut. The slitter slits 12,000 feet, and one casket holds 12,000 feet. Throughout the process, Destin will be taking photos on Kodak film. Destin: And it’s about five feet per 35 millimeter roll. Is that right, did I get that right?
Tim: Yeah.
Destin: That’s right. All right. So this is Patrick. Patrick’s an engineer.
Patrick: Nice to meet ya.
Destin: Doing all right?
Tim: This is the unwind. So we put it on the unwind, thread it up. There’ll be a leader in the machine.
Destin: Is this PET or is this acetate? This is Estar.
Destin: Okay, Estar. Got it.
Tim: Yes. So you’ve got your two banks. You got your even and your odd bank. This is a 35 millimeter slitter only.
Destin: So you have tension on one side on the whole sheet, which is right here. This is a whole sheet going.
Tim: Everything’s got tension.
Destin: Everything’s got tension?
Tim: Yeah. These are pulling tensions. See these spinning?
Destin: They’re spinning right now? Oh wow!
Tim: Yes. Yeah.
Destin: Okay. So is this actually moving leader through right now?
Tim: No.
Destin: Okay.
Patrick: I have clutches underneath those pullers.
Destin: Directional clutches.
Patrick: Yeah.
Destin: Oh, that’s how you maintain tension?
Patrick: Yes.
Destin: Gotcha. Okay, I’m with you. That’s cool. So, you know, Tim, you know everything about this machine?
Tim: More than anyone else.
Destin: Yeah? So is Tim the guy?
Patrick: He’s the guy.
Destin: So are you an engineer? What’s your title?
Tim: No, I’m just an operator.
Destin: I didn’t mean to offend you by calling you an engineer. So he’s an engineer. So you’re basically teaching him?
Patrick: Yes. Oh, yeah.
Destin: Yeah. That’s how that works, isn’t it? Like every manufacturing job I’ve ever been in, the operators teach the engineers. That’s the way it works. That’s awesome.
Tim: So you’ve got, you know, that’s the even when you got the odd bank over there. So this is basically the the odd bank, they’re all stuck down and then you got your salvage edges going to the
Destin: Recycle?
Tim: Those are just waste.
Destin: And so you go get the silver out of that somewhere.
Tim: Yes. Yeah.
Destin: Okay. And that’s where they knurled that over on the estar line.
Tim: Correct.
Destin: So since this the slitting machine is so big, we can only see it in pieces. This is what we’re looking at as a whole. We get a big roll of film unwinding and being fed into the machine. It goes up and over and down to a series of blades that slit and send half the film to the odd side and half of the film to the even side to be rolled up. The edges are trimmed off and then sent over to a bin so they can be recycled. So up until this process, you know, after we did the photosensitive coating, everybody’s been worried about touching that side. But here it looks like I’ve got a roller. That is it coming in contact here on the other side?
Patrick: Yup, yeah. So we touch the emulsion in this, in this building only, mainly, because it’s actually dried at this point. Right. By the time it gets to us, it’s no longer just a wet, wet emulsion, it’s got some stiffness to it. So we’re, we’re allowed to actually roll and wind on that side.
Destin: So do you have night vision goggles in here?
Tim: Yes.
Destin: [With surprise in his voice] What?!
Tim: I’ve been working in the dark for almost 30 years, so it’s it’s nothing. So, you can actually see fairly decent. I could see him in the dark, but you go over to a K3 Slitter where they do that film there, you know, the 135 that… You know, you can’t see me from me to you.
Destin: So are we doing 35 millimeter right now?
Tim: It’s 35 millimeter, but it’s a different.
Patrick: Yeah. So this is this is print film for So, what is our final product from this room? We are sending out rolls of 500 feet that have been slit and made into even and odd rolls. The rolls are 12,000 feet and the process is automated, with tension control and web steer to keep the web centered. The rolls go through the knife set and then up to the rewinds, where they are filled on both sides. Finally, a vacuum splice is used to stick the 500 feet rolls down, and the white markers on it are the adhesive for the tape. Destin asked Tim if he could understand the confusion on his face, to which Tim replied yes and that it would all make sense once he saw it. Patrick then walked Destin a few steps away to where they had a huge assembly, the slitting machine blades, and explained how it works. He explained that there were two different processes, one being shear straight through slitting and the other being where the film wrapped around the lower roller. He said that the film made around 100 degrees of contact before it got out. Destin thanked him for the explanation and mentioned that the episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. My grandfather had a clever trick to avoid salesmen making assumptions about what he could afford. He would put on an old, tattered shirt before making a purchase. Recently, I discovered a similar trick with VPNs. Websites track your IP address, and they will change the price of goods and services based on where they think you are from. For example, Microsoft Office is offered for $100 in the US, but only $77 in Colombia. Adobe Creative Cloud is a whopping $1000 in the US, but only $198 in Colombia. To take advantage of this price difference, you can use a VPN to access websites from different locations. NordVPN is a great option, and you can get a great deal on a two-year plan with four months free at nordvpn.com/smarter. It also allows you to connect up to six devices with one account. Additionally, there is a 30-day money back guarantee if you don’t like it.
In a separate process, holes are punched into the film to fit with the camera’s sprockets. This requires a special machine, and it is done in a dark room to avoid light damage to the film. Different sizes of holes can be punched to meet the customer’s demand. Destin: Really.
Matt: So yeah.
Destin: So this is where you put the core over here?
Matt: Well, to be honest with you, what happens is this door here would be open. As you said, we’re in a dark environment. This door would be open. There’s an arm that will reach into the rack, bring the roll in and automatically load it.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: Then this arm comes down. It puts all the computer information that we need to produce this roll.
Destin: How does how does the arm know the computer information?
Matt: Well it downloads from the actual rack.
Destin: Okay, got it.
Matt: There’s a card on the rack.
Destin: Got it.
Matt: That’ll be read and then its sent into the computer. It’s going to know that it’s a 2000 foot wall, 4000 foot or 6000 foot.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: The customer has different demand and it’s also going to tell it what print to put on there.
Destin: This looks very complicated.
Matt: That’s just the nuts and bolts of it is it’s very complicated. But for an operator’s point of view, it’s really not that difficult.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: There’s only a couple of interactions I actually have with the machine. Everything else is automated.
Destin: Can you show me what they are?
Matt: Yeah. What I’m gonna do. So this is exactly how the roll would have been loaded in under a dark environment. So as an operator, I’m going to take this tape off because we don’t want that. So this chopped it. And what we want is a rounded edge because we don’t want to damage the heart.
Destin: Okay, So a rounded edge and so it’s a very specific
Matt: very specific cut
Destin: Oh, a rounded edge. Yeah, okay, got it.
Matt: We don’t want this going through the heart on the other end.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: Because of the chance when it splices through it will damage the heart.
Destin: So that was a vacuum right there.
Matt: Yeah.holding it down
Destin: So, so that’s the back side of the film. So you don’t scratch it.
Matt: Exactly.
Destin: So on, on the roll, where’s the photosensitive part? It’s on the inside?
Matt: This is the emulsion. Yes. And this is a support.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: The outside of the support.
Destin: Gotcha.
Matt: So now I’d pull this knife off, there’d be a balance. I’d throw that out.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: And it keeps me from overlapping the film. So I butt that up to the knife. I’m going to reset it now. I take a piece of tape and you want it in the center of the film. You don’t want it being perforated.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: So now I’m going to take this.
Destin: You don’t want the tape to be perforated because it’ll mess up your punch.
Matt: It’s very, It could be. Our tape could get stuck on the heart and caused damage. There’s a number of things that could happen.
Destin: Gotcha.
Matt: So now I’ll take the slack out. and I’m going to send the film through.
Destin: Where should I be looking right now?
Matt: That’s well all this, you got. This arm moving. The film is going to kick through this end and it’s predetermined to make sure that I get the tape off so this this board comes out the knife will cut the film so that I have all the tape through the machine. Gotcha. And then this would be what we call a scratch test end. Every roll that we run, we’ll have a scratch test end that I would send to the tube system
Destin: uh huh.
Matt: That goes to the quality lab, and the inspector will verify that it meets our standards.
Destin: Got it. So. So what this machine is the scratchiest machine in here?
Matt: The scratchiest?
Destin: You said, you’re going to test scratch testing. Is that what you said?
Matt: Well, this is the verify. There is no scratches.
Destin Matt: “Normally the door would close. So now I’m going to start the machine. This is where it’s going to wind up. It runs up to 3000 feet a minute. We used to run 100 feet a minute on the old style machine. Greatly increased productivity. This is the actual punch drum, this is the die drum. As it rotates it’s pushing the perforations. The film that’s ejected goes into the heart and gets vacuumed out. Through this exhaust tube. We have these two big hoppers right here and this is where they get dispensed.”
Destin: “Got it. That’s really fast Matt. Did you run it on 100 feet per minute system? Can you show me where the holes go? I see it right here. So those are the little posts punching the holes in the film right here. Is there a bucket of those holes somewhere? Sounds good. So can you run this? We slurped like a spaghetti noodle. We slurped the end of the film up right? Yeah. Is this clear? Yeah. If I had a high speed camera, I would see little holes of film going that way. Yeah. What on this machine do you worry about? Is there something that typically messes up? That’s impressive. How many of these do you guys have? Do you like your job? Are you seeing production go up? I still shoot film. Can you show me the holes that come out of the film? Okay. Wow.” And then you have the punches, which are the things that are actually doing the cutting.And then you have the servo motors that are driving the punches in and out.
Dude! So that’s how much film we’ve run. That’s amazing. All of it, all those little perforations - and that’s silver. There’s silver in that. Exactly, so we recycle it to recover the silver. So once it comes out here, it’s in the light. So this is you just, you just recycle the whole thing. Can I get a picture with you in there, Matt? Oh, sure. [Shutter click] So I’m sure he told you, right? That middle bit that’s actually making the perforations. We call that the heart, right? No, he didn’t tell me that. Okay, so I will say that the operator, Matt, he seemed to not have a big concern about that, which tells me that the engineers are doing their job right. Yeah, there is a lot of technology going into developing that system right, 3000 feet a minute. It is not, not slow when you’re perforating at those speeds. There’s a lot of extra things that you have to start thinking about, right? Okay. I mean, when you’re up at 3000 feet a minute, you’re thinking about harmonics now. Yes. Right, vibrations, harmonics, tensions are really important. So we’re actually sneaking through the maintenance shop here because we’ve got a lot of the hearts on display here. And here’s one kind of, kind of cut open. Oh wow. Oh yeah. So, the face plate of the machines here and just this little bit is sticking out. Okay. And we’ve got all the hoses and stuff hooked up to the front here for the vacuums. And one reason why we nickname it the heart, because we have an oil mist in here. Okay. And when it’s running, it’s got the nice red oil flowing through it like a heart one. Those are just straight involute teeth, aren’t they? Yep. That’s interesting. So can I sit down in this chair? Yes. And kind of engage with this. This is really, really high precision stuff. Okay, so I’m seeing. So you’ve got set screws here. Yes. That are positioning each individual hole. Yeah. So the lower sets, they’re called the dies. And up at the top is the punches, right. So we’ve got a punch and die operation. Can I turn it? Uhhh, yes. You think so? Yes. Okay, so I grab it here. Okay. That’s a free wheeler, so I should be able to. Yeah. Look at that. Okay, so. So this is just a one to one. Yup. I feel no mechanical interaction whatsoever. Nope, yeah so it’s actually a through hole. So basically here’s my knife. So this hole has to move left and right up and down in order to index with the punch that corresponds with it. And is there, do you know how many there are on the wheel? 96. There’s 96. And so those are paired. Yep. And they’re tuned as a pair. Correct. How long does it take to tune them? Months. Months to tune one heart? Yep. Are you serious? Yes. Well, I have so many things I want to ask you. Um, How is it driven? There’s a big motor out this way. Yep, Yep. So got a serve on the serve on the. Direct drive? Direct drive. Yeah. That’s incredible. I’m noticing the the slots on the inside. So you have a channel that has a vacuum in it. Yup. So you have maximized your vacuum surface area instead of having little holes, you actually distribute that vacuum over a whole lot of surface area and that is a precisely machined part. Incredibly. So that’s, that’s a monolithic piece, isn’t it? That ring. Uh, every single die there is individual. Every die is individual. But the vacuum chamber is is all one big ring that’s right up there. Right on the drum. Yeah. So so there’s how many how many parts are just in this head. Alright. So you get the die drum which is the, the thing that everything gets bolted to with the vacuum channels. And then you’ve got the a set, a set of die on each side all 96 around. Then you have the vacuum channel all the way around that. Yeah. And then you have the punches, which are the things that are actually doing the cutting. And then you have the servo motors that are driving the punches in and out. Correct. Because it’s, it’s touching film now. You see these this kind of ring, light through. That bringing light through there, that’s actually we hook up a vacuum. Right. Right to the center hub here and pull out all the. It comes this way. Yep. Okay. And that’s that little hose that was on the front pulling it up and out. That’s amazing. So you’ll be able to look through through the microscope. You can’t film through the microscope. So you actually be able to see up through the die looking up at a perf. When you look through here, I look through the die. Look through the die up, up at up at a punch. So you’ve got to be careful because this is an active one being worked on so you can give it a little rocking back and forth too, if you want. Oh, wow. So you’re looking at the edges. Yeah. So that that’s how you’re you’re kind of going to use this tool to help set that up. Right, Because you really want to be looking at that alignment of of the punch to that die. Right. Because having it touch is really, really bad at 3000 feet a minute. Okay. So you’re looking at the backside of the punch. Yeah, we’re looking up through the die at the top of the punch. Got it. And so they’re setting those and everything’s a special tool, isn’t it? Oh, yeah. That’s so cool. Everything’s a special tool. That’s amazing. Oh, and these are the fiber lights. I use these for schlieren. Okay. Just to see what’s going on. So what’s what’s happening here is someone who’s working on this is going through here. We’ve got the vacuum ring still there, and that’s on the non photo sensitive side, correct? Correct. That is on the backside of the film. The backside of the film. And so they’re going through one at a time. These threaded holes. They are putting they are putting dies in. Is that what they’re doing? Yep. So that’s what a purple is called a die now. So they’re putting those dies in one at a time and they’re aligning them. Man. I’m just, I’m just now appreciating this part. This part has 96 sets of four threaded holes. So to kill that part is expensive. That’s a oh, that part right there cost tens of thousands of dollars. Oh, yeah. That’s amazing. These are all hearts. These are all hearts. Okay. Donovan showed me how they cut the large metal sheets into strips, which would later become cans. The strips were then visually inspected by a human and flipped like this, to look down. We then walked around the corner and Donovan showed me a machine that was making the little metal end cap for film canisters. We then put a hopper in down there and started applying the velvet, which had an adhesive on the back. We heated it and glued it onto the strip. After it came through, it went through some heaters and then through a set, so that the velvet wouldn’t be connected in between the strips. So cool.[S] Yeah.
Destin: “Oh that’s, that is so strange.”
Sermin: “And then now since the velvets cut, we can use this press to where we’re just cutting the metal. So we’re actually got double dye sets there and we’re, we’re punching each of these strips separately, and then they’ll be indexed in these trays.”
Destin: “Yep.”
Sermin: “And that’s one of those trays. We have some loaded ones over there.”
Destin: “Okay.”
Sermin: “And that’s what we’re going to use over at the dial to actually form this into something we can use at the spooler.”
Destin: “So we’re gonna turn this into a can?”
Sermin: “Correct.”
Destin: “Down the hall after these things were velveted, cut and crimped, they’re being loaded into one of my favorite machines on the planet. This is what actually makes the can. Let’s watch it for a second, and then we’ll try to figure out what’s going on.”
Sermin: “Okay, so metal comes out here, goes down, comes here, and it rolls it into a cylinder.”
Destin: “Yeah.”
Sermin: “It moves over here. It grabs a cap. And then as it moves forward, it puts the cap on way back there.”
Destin: “Yeah.”
Sermin: “And then it, it’s crimps it on and then towards the back it stakes it. Is that right?”
Destin: “Yeah.”
Sermin: “So this is the stacker here. So once it brings the cap over, now it’s going to stake it and then the rest of it just this conveyor. So taking it off, deciding if its a reject or not to, cause we’re measuring how well we actually staking it onto the magazine.”
Destin: “Got it.”
Sermin: “So good. It’s so good, dude. It’s so cool. Okay, We’ve made the film and we’ve made the can. It’s open on one side. We’ve only staked it on one side, but we have to put the film in the can and then we have to put it in this little container here. How do we do that? First all, we get the other side of the can and we get it oriented correctly. In a vibration rotation thing that gets it all aligned correctly. And then check this out. The little plastic canisters, they get them oriented correctly just by that little lip on the top, and they use gravity to drop it down. I could watch this for days. The lids for those cans move up this little conveyor belt and there’s these little sensors that tell if the lid is oriented in the correct way or not. If it’s not, it kicks it out. Once all these components are oriented correctly, they then go through a light lock into the adjacent room where all of them come together in one complete package in a 35 millimeter film can. So you’re Sermin?”
Destin: “Sermin.”
Sermin: “Nice to meet you.”
Destin: “Nice to meet you too.”
Sermin: “You run this machine.”
Destin: “Yes, I do.”
Sermin: “Do you mind showing me how it works?”
Destin: “Okay, so this is the A cabinet.”
Sermin: “Okay.”
Destin: “Is that a B cabinet? You have two?”
Sermin: “Yes, we have two, we have A and B.”
Destin: “And so you can have two rolls on there to tie.”
Sermin: “That is auto splice.”
Destin: “Auto splice.”
Sermin: “These are the lid.”
Destin: “Can I show you the one from my pocket? Can you show me where the things are?”
Sermin: “Okay, so these two, this one happens in the dial.”
Destin: “Okay.”
Sermin: “And this one happens. Will come down here.”
Destin: “Okay, so this one here, this end cap right here.”
Sermin: “Right.”
Destin: “Is over here.”
Sermin: “Right.”
Destin: “And then the whole can, is right here.”
Sermin: “Right.”
Destin: “And they come down here to meet.”
Sermin: “Yeah.”
Destin: “Okay.” Patrick then explains the machine to me, and it is so complicated that we would benefit from seeing it work first and then talking about what’s happening. We start with a piece of tape applied to a little plastic spool that’s going to be the center of the film can. [whirring, click, clank, clunk] In the next position, the film is taped to the center spool and then it’s rolled up quickly and then it’s cut. [Rhythmic Click Clack] The can that we made earlier is then slid over the top of the rolled up film and then the little end cap is put on making the whole thing light tight. My name is Rich and I’m here to explain the final packaging process for 35 millimeter film. After the film can is dropped into a plastic case, it is pushed down and advanced forward. It then goes up and around with air, through a tube and into the white line where the packing lines are. At this point, the film goes through a 3P package line where it is packaged in various formats. After that, an inspector checks the carton print for expiration and the proper amount of packages are put into the box. The case then goes through a taping machine and is stacked and placed on a pallet. Finally, the carton is opened with a rotary actuator and five spools are loaded into the carton. The metal detectors then check for ferrous material to ensure the can is detected. [Op3] Yeah, they’re all great. Everyone here works together and it’s a very good team project. I’ve been here for four months and in December I’ll be going on five. Everyone keeps saying I’ll be here the next 40 years, but we’ll see! It’s something different than what I’m used to, but I like it. I’m hoping to work my way up and become the youngest guy here. It’s been a great experience so far. It was great meeting Rich and the team at the Kodak plant in Rochester, New York. Rich was kind enough to help me out on my tour and explain the 35 millimeter process. We even took a few pictures together to commemorate the experience!
I’m grateful for the opportunity to witness the strength of American manufacturing and the older generation teaching the younger generation. It’s inspiring to see how they’re rising to the challenge and learning interesting techniques.
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Thanks for joining me on this three hour tour and I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!