Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/19/how-tennis-balls-are-made.html
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I was hoping to see a bounce test, alas
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That is a beautifully shot video. My word.
That said, I’d never have thought there was that much handwork that goes into making tennis balls. So little automation, really.
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I thought tennis balls had some sort of pressure in them, and maybe even filled with nitrogen to reduce leakage… But I couldn’t tell in the manufacturing steps where that happened. It seemed like the balls were just sealed together at room pressure.
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Dear lord, how small are those workers’ hands? They looked like they were handling softballs, not tennis balls!
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Fuzz attachment was practically skipped. Disappointment.
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Yes, the laying on of the fuzz looked like the most skilled, and perhaps dangerous to the hands, of the processes. I wanted to see more. Watching the video left me frustrated.
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Dear lord, how small are those workers’ hands?
Trump inspects the workers’ hands individually before hiring them.
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I was thinking the same thing. A surprising amount of handling!
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. No need to take it there.
“Handling of balls” what kind of place do you think this is?
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Yeah! Ball handling is for sports, and men, as in manly sports like football and basketball. Not for for the production of girly sport tennis balls. That’s just gross.
/s
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Tennis balls, my liege.
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Excellent. Now no longer have to make a clay court. I can just make the court out of rubber and tennis ball felt and use clay balls. I can’t see any way this could have any problems.
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Fascinating!
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I’m a little disappointed that none of those steps involved a golden retriever.
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Can I break your brain on another thing?
Wilson also makes volleyballs like the one in Cast Away, in which “Wilson” is Tom Hanks’ constant and only companion, and the prospect of losing Wilson drives him into deep despair.
My theory: every time he said “Wilson”, he was thinking of Rita.
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Well, when a wiffle ball and a piece of felt love each other very much…
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I preferred this succinct presentation to the “How It’s Made” series, that gets a lot of minor facts wrong.
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So many steps seemed to involve slightly leaning and bending across a machine…all day long. I mean, if you’re not going to automate, at least build the machines with the humans in mind…
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