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James May is back in his Wiltshire workshop to help fix Britain's biggest bugbears with simple solutions and ingenious engineering.
James May is back in his Wiltshire workshop to help fix Britain's biggest bugbears with simple solutions and ingenious engineering.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Hello.
00:05These days I spend more and more time in my Wiltshire home.
00:11And the pub I own.
00:13Thinking about all the big problems in the world.
00:17And some smaller ones that annoy me.
00:21Luckily there's a place I can go to solve them all.
00:24Or at least try.
00:27My shed.
00:29Right.
00:31It's here that I have the tools.
00:33Let's just saw some wood up.
00:35The tea.
00:37And a couple of other highly competent blokes.
00:41Very good. Brace yourself.
00:43Who've agreed to help me rid the world of problems.
00:46Is she getting the ticket out?
00:47Great.
00:48Dirty flight of us.
00:49And small.
00:51The cereal has gone soggy.
00:53I'll also have to take on other people's problems.
00:56What is wrong with Peter?
00:57He used to make a sound.
00:59And now he doesn't.
01:00By which I mean the locals at my pub who are always bringing me stuff to bend.
01:05Is it a train set?
01:07So join us and our excitable crew.
01:13Who will capture our endeavours.
01:15That was epic.
01:16As we create.
01:19Make.
01:20That feels like a terrible thing you've just done.
01:22Repair.
01:23So it's never worked.
01:24Not in my lifetime.
01:25And repurpose.
01:26Whoa.
01:27In my shed load of ideas.
01:28What do you think?
01:29This is just brilliant.
01:32You might think that sitting on this bench in Wiltshire is very relaxing.
01:37And so it should be.
01:39Unless your mind is filled with concern for all the problems of the world and how to solve them.
01:45Right now I'm keen to take on one of the most persistent problems that affects the whole planet.
02:00And that's plastic waste.
02:07In Britain we discard 1.7 billion pieces of the stuff every week.
02:15And while we do recycle nearly half of it, that comes with its own set of problems.
02:21Back in the olden days when I was a lad, the business of rubbish was very simple.
02:26You produce some rubbish, this bottle for example, and you put it in the bin.
02:31And that was the end of that.
02:33We didn't know what happened to it.
02:34We didn't care.
02:35We were blissfully ignorant.
02:37Now of course we have recycling.
02:39And recycling is a wonderful thing.
02:40I think the key to human happiness is infinite recyclability and abundant renewable energy.
02:46Because then we can indulge our desires to produce and consume, but without filling the world with our tat.
02:53It does come with a few problems though.
02:55I mean, this is the brown bin.
02:56Is that glass?
02:58Or is that plastic?
02:59Or is it cardboard?
03:00No, maybe cardboard goes in the greenwood, but that depends which authority you're living under.
03:04There are 39 different recycling regimes across the UK alone.
03:09Do you take the tops off bottles?
03:11Do you leave them on?
03:12Are you supposed to rinse them out?
03:14Are you supposed to take the labels off?
03:15Are you supposed to put green glass separate from clear glass?
03:18Does that go out on Thursday afternoon or is it the blue bin?
03:20And it goes out on Wednesday morning.
03:22People are very annoyed about recycling because it's too complicated.
03:25Apparently 82% of British households put something wrong in the recycling bin.
03:32What if you could recycle your plastics, for example, yourself?
03:36What if you could cut all this out, all this frustration, all this annoyance, and at home,
03:42simply turn all those old bottles and what have you into something beautiful and enduring?
03:48Let's try.
03:50In case that wasn't clear, I want to reduce plastic waste and make something useful.
03:54So I consult my team of recycling enthusiasts.
03:57My inventive engineer, Simi.
03:59We're now set at two bar.
04:01Am I up for anything carpenter, Tony the Tool?
04:04Aww.
04:05And not forgetting our crew, who have been busy collecting and shredding plastic for our great recycling experiment.
04:13We are planning to make a board game for the pub, so Tony Sim and I prepare our garden smithy.
04:20Right.
04:21Situation report, viewers.
04:23We've shredded all our plastic.
04:25We are going to melt it.
04:26We're going to use this little oven and this toasted sandwich maker.
04:30We're looking for a temperature of around 150 degrees, at which it will become very plastic but not liquid.
04:36Simi has this attractive pair of silicone gloves.
04:38When we have made our plastic into a plastic state, one of us is going to need it until we've got enough to put in our mould to make a rectangular section.
04:49To melt plastic safely, it must have a number two on its recycling symbol, which tells us it's non-toxic.
04:56This can be found in milk bottles and without giving the game away, so to speak,
05:01plastic lids are perfect for our counters and board of different colours.
05:05To begin with, we're going to do white and we're going to do it in the oven.
05:12The aim of our back garden experiment is to find out if this process actually works.
05:17By running different heating appliances all at the same time, we're hoping to generate enough plastic to build our game.
05:24Put a sheet of baking paper on there in the hope that it won't stick.
05:28Shall we start with that?
05:30Yeah, let's put that in and then let's do the same thing with the toasted sandwich maker.
05:34We will do a different colour. We'll do the top. Shall we do blue?
05:37Once heated, the plastic must be malleable enough for us to reshape it.
05:42It's burning.
05:43After five to ten minutes, the plastic has melted.
05:46So if we get that on there...
05:48OK, so now let's get some more in here.
05:50We can reuse that. It's getting hard and breaking apart.
05:53Put that on there. OK.
05:59We want to create a marbling effect, but quickly discover it's not really that simple.
06:04I'm not sure the colours are going to combine very fast.
06:07It's going to collapse.
06:08In the table, it's going to collapse.
06:10Polymer thermoplastics melt easily, but once off the heat, they cool and harden within seconds.
06:16It's going to take about three days at this point. That's already gone too hard now.
06:23Work it, work it.
06:27I'm just going to shove that in there for a minute, just to see if I can get any shape to this whatsoever.
06:31At least it's taking on a rough shape.
06:37We've made nougat!
06:39That's not even a quarter of what we need.
06:41Situation update, viewers. That is what we have created so far.
06:46It's very difficult to get it into a properly plastic state.
06:49It doesn't mix together very well. It doesn't form very well.
06:52It sets fire to greaseproof paper. It burns Tony's hands.
06:56Would you like to know, viewers, what it was that we were hoping to make for the pub?
07:02And then you can gauge how successful we've been so far.
07:06It was, is, a chessboard and a set of draughts.
07:14The artists amongst you, like Rodan, looking at a block of stone and being able to see the finished work within it,
07:19will look at that and say, yes, yes, a set of draughts and a board.
07:23LAUGHTER
07:28Oh, God, what are we going to do?
07:31I've done all that stuff about bins and recycling and how annoying it is.
07:39But, Simmy thinks he may have the answer.
07:44I don't know if it's the answer.
07:46Well...
07:47I think it's worth trying.
07:48We're running out of options, son.
07:50We leave Simmy with the burden of solving our plastic problem.
07:56I find, I think, better over a pint.
07:59So Tony and I head to the pub.
08:02We're also meeting a local dude who would like us to repair his 19th century family heirloom.
08:08No pressure, then.
08:10You're Peter.
08:11Yes.
08:12James.
08:13How are you?
08:14Hello.
08:15This is Tony.
08:16Hello, Tony.
08:17What is that?
08:18It's a Victorian, a compendium of games.
08:21That's the book.
08:22Now, the reason it's wrapped up in cellophane is because this tray is all broken.
08:28I had the utmost difficulty in getting it out because it all sort of fell apart.
08:31So I put it in the bag so I could lift it.
08:34And it's Victorian, you say?
08:37Yes, but the Book of Instructions gives us some clue.
08:40So it's before bridge, even auction bridge.
08:42So when is that? Late 19th century?
08:44Yes.
08:45The Victorians could be quite verbose.
08:47Yes.
08:48And it also always amazes me when I see anything Victorian that the type is so tiny.
08:52Yes.
08:53And yet they had to read it with candles most of the time because they didn't have electricity either.
08:57As chess stands pre-eminently and without question at the head of all the games detailed hitherto,
09:05So does the game of whist occupy the position of honour amongst all the multitudinous games of cards.
09:15It is THE game.
09:17There's several pages of this before it actually tells you how to play it.
09:20Where did you get this from?
09:22My parents gave it to me when I was about 11.
09:24You weren't 11 in 1875?
09:26No.
09:27So it was already an antique?
09:29Oh, yes.
09:30All the screws perfectly alive.
09:31There's a lot of work gone into that.
09:35Before my fascination with the Victorian gaming world takes hold, we need to find out how we can help.
09:41The main problem is this tray here.
09:44That is a picture of it.
09:46Oh.
09:47And you see there's that tray which sits in there.
09:50To lift it out, there should be a ring at each end.
09:53Ah, so that's what snapped.
09:55Yes.
09:56Now you can see the holes there.
09:57Now, unfortunately, one of the rings has got lost.
09:59Whether you can get your hands on another one.
10:02We can make one.
10:03You can make one on the leaf.
10:04You can make one, yes.
10:05Let's not forget, Tony, that when this was made, there were very few distractions.
10:09There was no internet, obviously, no electricity, no television, no radio.
10:14Just good, wholesome family fun.
10:15Yep.
10:16Played by little children in massive knickerbockers and their parents who were dying of consumption.
10:23But had at least that afternoon enjoyed the public hanging at Newgate.
10:27Ah, the good old days.
10:29So I've got all these bits together.
10:33But where do these belong?
10:35Da-da-da.
10:36Something is missing from down here.
10:38We can reinstate that, I think.
10:41With a bit of careful gluing and clamping and then a once over with a very finely set plane.
10:49This is actually rather nice, isn't it, Tony?
10:51It's beautiful.
10:52Well, it was probably made in great numbers.
10:55What's your ambition for this?
10:58To put it in a state, really, where the grandchildren can play with it again.
11:04Peter, we shall tidy up the box, replace that bit that's peeled off.
11:10Yeah, make another loop and blend it in as seamlessly as possible.
11:14Yes, leave it with us, Peter.
11:15We will be in touch and you will be astonished and you'll look at it and think,
11:19that's great, and then go back to your iPhone.
11:21Thank you very much.
11:23This might be a relatively small repair, but it will involve some intricate carpentry and some light metalwork.
11:30But the weight of history will add extra pressure as we attempt to get Peter's compendium of games back to full working order.
11:45Here in Wiltshire, we're trying to tackle the big issue of plastic waste
11:49by seeing if it's possible to skip the bins altogether and recycle our plastics at home in our DIY recycling centre.
11:58It's burning.
12:00Our idea was to make a draft set for the pub out of milk bottles, but so far our efforts have proved fruitless.
12:06It looks terrible.
12:07It looks terrible.
12:08Oh God, what are we going to do?
12:09But we may just have hit upon a solution.
12:15So we need to melt in the small quantities.
12:17I think so.
12:18And a smaller mould.
12:20I was wondering if, just as an experiment, we put a little bit of material in there.
12:27It's a piece of his vacuum cleaner from his van.
12:30See, the thing is ideally you'd put it into a hot mould, heat the tube itself with the torch, let it cool or dunk it in some water.
12:39Hopefully it will shrink a bit and a nice round section pellet of recycled plastic will pop out.
12:47Are you ready?
12:48Yep.
12:49That's so exciting.
12:54Keep going, keep going.
13:02Oh, man.
13:06Look at that.
13:07Ta-da.
13:08Hey.
13:09What a breakthrough.
13:10I'm so happy.
13:11I'm so happy, given everything we've been through today.
13:14It's good.
13:15It is good.
13:16I love it.
13:17Yeah.
13:18We've just got to refine it.
13:20Yeah.
13:21We've just got to make decent moulds.
13:22Yep.
13:23We put the ball in the middle of it and we put a lever on something that goes in it and then we just ram it down.
13:30A proper mould will speed up this whole process so we waste no time in getting back to the shed.
13:36While Tony makes the start melting more plastic, Sim and I craft the smaller moulds using my new milling machine.
13:43I'm going to bore it on the Rishten, which is a lovely machine.
13:48Isn't it lovely.
13:49Isn't it lovely.
13:50Isn't it lovely.
13:51Lucy wants to give it a name.
13:52It's a Rishten.
13:53It is a vertical mill so you could call it, you like alliterative names, Victoria the vertical mill.
14:01Nice.
14:02It's Vincent the vertical mill or Ricky Rishten.
14:05I think it's a girl.
14:06I think it's a girl.
14:07Why is it a girl?
14:08Well, you've made the lay the man.
14:10I haven't made the lay the man.
14:12You did.
14:13The lath is a lay.
14:14I think the milling machine should be a girl called Millie.
14:18I'll make a little sticky label.
14:20Update, viewers, number eight or nine or ten, we're not quite sure.
14:24We think we can see an end to the recycled plastic conundrum and it involves making some very, very simple moulds,
14:31which we're going to do here on Millie the milling machine and Doris the drill.
14:40Oh.
14:44Ignition.
14:45Millie is milling.
14:47Bet you £100 in snatches.
14:53Down.
15:00So this is basically our mould and we're going to put our plastic in it and we're going to press out counters.
15:07Using it as a press, this redundant old pillar drill, which will ensure consistency, which is the key to mass production.
15:16Does the pillar drill have a name?
15:18No, nothing has a name.
15:20The mill doesn't.
15:21The little mill doesn't.
15:22The pillar drill doesn't.
15:23The little lathe doesn't.
15:24The big lathe doesn't.
15:25The bench doesn't.
15:26My mini doesn't.
15:27The only things that have names here are Simi and James.
15:30This piece of aluminium is not called Alan the aluminium.
15:34It's just a piece of aluminium.
15:36Now we've cleared that up, we can get back to making Malcolm the mould and Peter Piston, which we need for pressing the counters for our draft set.
15:43Where would you keep your G-clamps?
15:47Do you want to use the G-clamp that I made as a 15-year-old?
15:50Yes.
15:51If it still works.
15:52I believe it does.
15:53It's a bit rusty and...
15:58That's rather...
15:59That is rather good.
16:00Did you cast all that?
16:02Yeah.
16:03So you made a wooden pattern?
16:05Yep.
16:06Sand casted?
16:07Yes.
16:08Used the horizontal mill on those faces, I think, and then turned everything else, and that was that.
16:16That would be marvellous.
16:20Now I quickly turn a piston on the lathe.
16:23This will be used to press into the mould to create the counters.
16:26Into this chuck.
16:28Done.
16:33All we need now is a bit of molten plastic to go in there.
16:36Job done.
16:37Beautiful.
16:38Where is Tony?
16:40He's in the kitchen, melting a small quantity of plastic for us to press into our newly made mould.
16:48Here's Tony!
16:50Anybody order green balls?
16:51Hopefully this time it will work.
16:53He's got hands of asbestos.
16:56Right, James, would you like to do the honours?
16:58Just...
16:59Let's try.
17:00Where do I stop?
17:01Here it goes.
17:02Just keep going.
17:04Hey!
17:07Can we have another one?
17:09It's a bit rough.
17:12Surface finish on the outside is not that great.
17:14It's still very hot as well.
17:15I think the Ali is probably just sucking all the heat out of it very quickly.
17:22It's getting better.
17:23That one is better.
17:24That was much better.
17:26I would say we have cracked the counters.
17:28Yes, sir.
17:29Agreed.
17:30All we need to do is repeat the process 23 more times and build a drafts board.
17:36So we will now shift to something more interesting than this, if that's possible.
17:40Once our game is completed, I'll be bringing it to the pub for everyone to enjoy.
17:49This will give the locals another reason to drop by.
17:52It's not easy running a pub, you know, what with business rates, the cost of thatching, spiralling wage costs, people making off with the cutlery.
18:01And on top of all that, I have to think about choosing the right flavour of crisps.
18:06Which got me thinking.
18:08Perhaps it's time to revolutionise the nation's favourite pub snack.
18:15Mm, mm, mm.
18:17They are absolutely delicious.
18:19Peak cuisine.
18:20But what if you get halfway down the bag and then you suddenly think, do you know what, I fancy salt and vinegar.
18:25So we were thinking, what if all crisps were plain and then, let's say we're in my pub and you have, rather than a packet of crisps, a bowl of completely plain crisps and then a series of flavours, perhaps in atomiser bottles, that you added to the crisps.
18:45So you picked a crisp up and you think, I think I'll have salt and vinegar for this one.
18:50Munch.
18:51And then the next crisps, you think, no, I enjoyed the salt and vinegar, but this time I'm going to have cheese and onion.
18:58Eat.
19:00Every crisp could be different.
19:03Let me talk to you a bit about some of the flavours I was imagining.
19:07Spam, anchovies, or even combine them in a new flavour, spam and anchovies.
19:14I'd be minging.
19:15No, I think it'd be quite nice, wouldn't it?
19:16Spam and anchovies.
19:17Spam and anchovies.
19:18It rolls off the tongue.
19:19A bag of spam and anchovies, please.
19:21OK, what if we...
19:22Cook it up.
19:23Pour them in there.
19:24Yeah, cook it up.
19:25With the spam.
19:26With some spam.
19:27This is where everybody's going, get the spam out, make a hole in the bottom of the tin.
19:33Have you ever met someone who speaks like that?
19:34Yes.
19:37People who give you advice on the internet.
19:39They're right, though.
19:40They're right.
19:41Oh, this is a nice-looking block of spam.
19:49When was the last time you had spam?
19:52About three days ago.
19:55I had spam and beans when I was left on my own at home the other day.
20:00Right, there's the cubed spam.
20:03You've added some more oil into there, yeah?
20:05I have, yes.
20:06OK, that can go on the cooker with a wooden spoon.
20:12While we wait for our flavours to blend, I think I've spotted another opportunity to enhance the pub snack experience.
20:19Mmm.
20:21What if?
20:23Spam on a cheese and onion, Chris. Here you go.
20:29OK, ready? Cheers.
20:30Cheers.
20:31Three, two, one.
20:33Mmm.
20:34Oh, yeah.
20:35Mmm.
20:37God, that's good.
20:39That's really good.
20:40Mmm.
20:43Does anybody from the crew want to try a...?
20:45I'll try it.
20:46This is the hand of Will Fisher coming in.
20:49What do you think?
20:50Oh, that's excellent.
20:51That's for Andy.
20:52It's good, isn't it?
20:53Oh, we're just going to spend the rest of this eating spam.
20:54Well, it's just...
20:55Right, back to the task in hand, which is trying to make atomised flavours for crisps.
21:08This needs to be heated up.
21:09Do you mind doing that, Sammy?
21:10No, no.
21:11Because you're nearest and you're experts at cooking.
21:13Is it worth sprinkling a little bit of salt in as well to...?
21:15Oh, yes!
21:16Oh, yes!
21:18Within a matter of moments, our spam chibi mix, you're welcome, is ready.
21:22Pass me a piece of fun, I can make funnel.
21:28What?
21:29As Tony fashions a funnel out of foil and pours the infusion into the sprayer,
21:33I'm already convinced this will be a hit in the pub.
21:37I am genuinely quite excited about this.
21:40This could be a world-changing moment.
21:43Spam and anchovy crisp for the first time in the history of humanity.
21:58Oh, it works!
22:01It tastes of spam and anchovy, that's amazing!
22:04Step aside, cheese and onion.
22:07Stand down, salt and vinegar.
22:09A new flavour combination has arrived.
22:12You have to eat them quickly, obviously, otherwise they'd go soggy,
22:14but you do eat crisps quickly, don't you?
22:16You don't sit and...
22:18Sometimes you get a note of anchovy,
22:20and then sometimes you get the spam first,
22:22so it's a bit of a surprise as well.
22:24Yeah.
22:25The basic idea of that works.
22:27You can have a bowl of plain crisp
22:30and then add any flavour that the pub can conceive.
22:34There'll be a great big rack of them, colour-coded with little sizes, say,
22:38spam and anchovy, spice paste, the regulars,
22:41salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, prawn cocktail.
22:45It's fantastic!
22:46That has completely revolutionised crisps.
22:48They've been trapped for...
22:50When were crisps invented?
22:52Probably the 1920s, I don't know.
22:54They've been locked into this small-minded idea
22:57that the same flavour has to run through the whole bag,
22:59and it doesn't.
23:02God, we're good.
23:03You saw it here first.
23:04The crisp spray atomiser coming soon to a pub near me.
23:16Welcome back to Wiltshire,
23:18where, as well as tackling some of the world's biggest problems,
23:21we're also often busy mending personal effects
23:24brought into the pub by the locals.
23:26So, Tony and I are back in the workshop
23:29to get started on the business of mending.
23:32Peter came to the pub,
23:34and he brought us his Victorian Games box.
23:38These bits are broken,
23:40and Tony is an expert on gluing things together,
23:44cos that's the sort of thing he does.
23:46There's a lot in here, actually.
23:47It's rather cleverly done.
23:49This appears more broken than when we got it.
23:51It does, actually.
23:52The lid, Tony, is coming apart at the back
23:57and needs gluing and clamping.
23:59He doesn't want it restored,
24:01but he doesn't want it to fall apart any further.
24:03So there should be a little ring in each end
24:06for lifting it out.
24:07One of them is long lost,
24:10but it's OK, because I have some brass rod
24:13of an appropriate diameter to make another.
24:16Do you want to make two and make them match?
24:19I mean, that's the original ring.
24:21Victorian fingers went through that.
24:24We won't get rid of that, but I think they should match.
24:27While I reacquaint myself with my ancient soldering kit...
24:31It has some solder paste, various solders,
24:34two tins of flux that I've had for, I'm afraid to say, 40 years.
24:38Tony begins the delicate job of gluing the tray inside the box.
24:43Is it sticking together?
24:45Yeah, it's just fiddly.
24:48And there's so many little bits,
24:50I think I'm just going to use masking tape to clamp it,
24:52because it doesn't need a lot of pressure.
24:54No.
24:55Heating the rod makes the metal easier to bend.
24:58Let's do this without setting fire to the Victorian games box,
25:03because that would make the job a lot more complicated.
25:07Right, leave that to cool naturally,
25:09and then it will be more malleable.
25:11This bit at the back is going to need some quite hefty clamping
25:15and probably leaving overnight.
25:17That is now much easier to bend, because it's been annealed,
25:20which is a sort of posh metal worker's way of saying,
25:23made a bit softer.
25:25Man in heaven. Virtually perfect.
25:28See, that annoys me.
25:29That one's not in the same direction in the head as all the others.
25:33That's properly weird, Tony.
25:35Don't you line them up?
25:36No.
25:37On your light switches?
25:38On your plug sockets?
25:39No.
25:40They've got to be in the same direction.
25:42That's disgusting.
25:43They've got to be at the right tension,
25:45which may not be with the slot in the right direction.
25:47You can't compromise integrity for lining your slots up.
25:52Well, I think visual aesthetics are better than safety.
25:55I quite like a certain amount of randomness.
25:57I like the odd picture in my house to be slightly on the hook.
25:59No, look, whoever did this originally
26:01has lined them up horizontally.
26:03That's probably why that one came undone.
26:07Next, we focus on the lid repairs.
26:10It's not split, it's merely come away.
26:12It's slightly warped,
26:14so we need to get some glue into the gap.
26:16But Tony's taping the inside
26:18so that any glue that goes all the way through it
26:21doesn't run down and spoil the inside of the lid.
26:24Very wise.
26:25Oh, that's nice.
26:26The glue is squidging out, which is a good sign.
26:28I would leave that overnight.
26:30Wouldn't you?
26:31Yeah.
26:32With the lid of the box clamped and secure,
26:34I can return to crafting two identical brass rings,
26:37which act as handles for the tray.
26:40Beautiful curve.
26:42But somehow there I've...
26:44Maybe it was when I squeezed the pliers
26:46I might have twisted it slightly in my hand.
26:48It appears that I may not be bothered
26:50about screws and light switches being aligned,
26:52but I do like my rings to be perfectly circular.
26:56I have improved it a bit, look.
26:58That's not bad.
26:59It's not bad, but it's not good, is it?
27:01Here's a little jewellery mending tip
27:03you probably never thought you'd be getting from me.
27:06The mistake people make...
27:08I'm going to demonstrate.
27:09You take a ring, say, from your necklace
27:11and you think,
27:12I need to open that one up to put another one in,
27:14and you open it by doing that and pulling it apart.
27:17You will never get it back together.
27:18Always open it by doing it that way
27:20because then you can squash it minutely in that plane
27:26and then when you push it back together
27:30the ends will be tight against each other
27:32and you can solder it.
27:33So it clumps itself.
27:34Yeah.
27:35Does that look ringy enough to you?
27:37It's perfect.
27:38So you are a bit of a perfectionist, aren't you?
27:41Not really, but people are watching.
27:43Well, at least I hope they are
27:45because next is the incredible science of soldering.
27:49The way I always do this,
27:51because it's very easy to put too much on,
27:54clip a tiny bit of the solder off.
27:57I'll put a bit of fluxite on there
28:00and then if you put your little scrap of solder...
28:04How will it stay in place?
28:06You can simply heat it up
28:07and then that little bit will run into the join.
28:10The trick with soldering is to heat up the metal near the joint
28:13rather than the joint itself.
28:16Oh, wow!
28:18That's impressive.
28:21Get in!
28:23That's very impressive.
28:25Right, you can glue your box back together now, Tone.
28:28Excellent.
28:29That was very satisfying.
28:31I'm not good at chess.
28:32I sort of know the rules.
28:33Are you any good at chess?
28:34I joined a chess club for a laugh
28:35because I thought it would be exciting and it wasn't.
28:37You thought it would be exciting?
28:39Yeah, I don't know what got into me.
28:41What was the alternative?
28:42It was a Rubik's Cube club.
28:44That was quite new.
28:45I wasn't a member of any clubs.
28:47We had gangs and, you know, a few people were interested in making stuff out of wood and building bicycles.
28:53Some others were interested in photography and that.
28:56So you just, you sort of formed natural clubs but they weren't formalised.
29:01Because if they were formalised, they'd involve a grown-up and that would spoil it.
29:06We've got a sort of club here.
29:08We have.
29:09We don't really acknowledge it, do we?
29:11But it is a club.
29:12You're just going to hold it together with some tape.
29:15Yeah.
29:16See, that's already a massive improvement.
29:18How are my rings?
29:19Rings are lush.
29:20You've got the nicest rings I've ever seen.
29:23The trick is to do that and then get a bit of tension round the corners, isn't it?
29:26So all that's really left to do is for you to assemble and glue...
29:30Is that the Domino's tray?
29:32Yeah, this was for the Domino's.
29:33Assemble and glue the Domino's tray.
29:35Give it a bit of a wipe down, check the gluey marks and then give it back to Peter.
29:40This is so nice.
29:42Enjoy his astonishment.
29:43This is quite zen, isn't it?
29:45This mending the old Victorian box.
29:48I would leave that overnight, wouldn't you?
29:50Yeah.
29:53Now all that's needed is a good night's sleep.
29:56But that's not always possible.
29:58Here's a fact I recently discovered.
30:00Four out of ten couples are not sharing a duvet fairly.
30:04Leading to a lot of bedroom drama and ruined sleep.
30:09But I think I could put an end to all that here and now.
30:13Here is a problem that has plagued couples ever since the invention of the duvet,
30:19which was sometime in the mid-1970s.
30:21The double duvet is, by its nature, something to be shared equally.
30:25But it isn't, is it?
30:27Even with a modern, same-sex, mixed-race, gender-fluid couple like this one,
30:32you will get problems when one of them rolls over in the night
30:35and steals part of it from the other.
30:37For example, Simi.
30:38If you imagine you're asleep and you roll over and you steal, there you go.
30:42You see?
30:43And now Tony thinks, hang on a minute.
30:45Oi, oi!
30:47Oh!
30:50There is, I'm afraid, no happy ending to this scene,
30:53but I've had an idea.
30:57What I reckon, you two, is...
31:00Yes!
31:01What if...
31:02This is very simple.
31:04I've got some bungees.
31:06What if we bungeed each corner to the floor
31:09so that you have a sort of self-centering duvet?
31:12Ooh, that's nice. Yeah.
31:14And it's sort of almost like a floating duvet.
31:17We really need one of those eyelet-punching things.
31:19Or a cable tie.
31:21Oh, a cable tie's a good idea.
31:25Do you want to double them up so they're longer?
31:27Well, possibly.
31:28Cos then they'll...
31:30Yes, I think you're right.
31:32That'll do.
31:34Hogging the duvet is big news in Britain,
31:37outranking the age-old problem of snoring
31:39as the main reason for night-time squabbles.
31:42If this works, no more.
31:46My idea is the bungees,
31:49which will be under equal tension on all four corners,
31:53will centre the duvet.
31:56If somebody pulls it one way,
31:57obviously it will spring back the other.
32:01But this will be unknown to them because they'll be asleep.
32:04But the duvet will always be in the middle.
32:07Makes a change, him doing all the work, doesn't it?
32:09Yeah.
32:10Makes a change, just doing nothing.
32:14Oh, it's moving.
32:16Hey, there might be something in this.
32:18Also, if you had a height-adjustable bungee anchoring point,
32:22you could make more of a hovering duvet for very hot days, such as today.
32:27Ooh.
32:29Ooh.
32:30Ooh.
32:31That's a nice draft.
32:32It is.
32:35Clear sleep.
32:36This is a serious experiment.
32:38Obviously, in the final version of this, it will be adjustable.
32:41There.
32:42Now imagine one of you rolls over and grabs some duvet.
32:46Oh, well, you...
32:49Oh.
32:53James, I think you've cracked it.
32:54It's not bad, is it?
32:55It's not bad at all.
32:56It's very good.
32:57Do a bit of tussling now.
32:58It's the middle of the night.
32:59Just mind your eyes.
33:01Yeah, if the bungees become unhooked for some reason...
33:05Look at that!
33:08Automatically centred duvet.
33:11The end of the argument.
33:13We've solved it.
33:20There's your happy ending.
33:28You join us once again in Wiltshire, still working away recycling our own plastic to create a game for the pub.
33:36But we also like workshop games, so we've invented one that tests our basic knowledge of physics and makes use of eggs past their sell-by date.
33:45It's called the yolks on us, and that's the last egg pun that there will be in this sequence, but it does involve an egg.
33:54We've got a box of eggs that have gone way past their sell-by date.
33:58There are two indentations in our simple rig that hold the egg.
34:02Eggs are famously very strong in that direction, supposedly you can drive a tractor over them and all sorts of things.
34:08But the winner is the person who gets the most weight on there without breaking the egg.
34:13How are we going to balance everything? It'll be like buckaroo.
34:16Well, that's why it's interesting.
34:18Oh, okay.
34:19I'm going to start with this hammer.
34:22Which weighs?
34:24876 grams.
34:27So I'm going to put it there.
34:29Sim, it's your go.
34:30Anything.
34:31Anything at all.
34:32Anywhere beyond that line.
34:34Oh, Sim.
34:35Oh, bold.
34:36Oh, it's going to be...
34:38It's 13,000 grams.
34:41Jeez.
34:42But you've written it in, a bit premature, because you might break the egg.
34:47You might break the wood at this rate.
34:49I'm just getting it beyond the line.
34:59It's funny, what the egg was thinking, I've got this, I've got this.
35:02This game is great, but because Tony didn't get to demonstrate his engineering prowess, it's only fair we play best of three.
35:174,100.
35:19But let's be clear.
35:21Oh, it's got right there.
35:22At this point, we're all in it to win it.
35:261990.
35:271,919.
35:281,919.
35:291,919.
35:30I'm not feeling that, um...
35:33Oh.
35:34You've played a very tactical game, Tony.
35:38Yeah.
35:39Half to win.
35:40There's a little bit of water in it.
35:42The average egg can withstand a surprising amount of weight, up to 35 kilograms when pressure is applied evenly.
35:48So, I'm going to add 1,231, and I can't put it any further back than that.
35:57Simi.
35:59I'm finding this genuinely tense.
36:02445.
36:05Whoa!
36:07Whoa!
36:09That was you.
36:12Oh, that's good!
36:13If this game wasn't exciting enough, for the final round we decide to add more drama.
36:20There's a minimum weight limit of 500 grams.
36:25Simi.
36:27The pro-hex head screws.
36:29He's just... he's ballsy.
36:31Looking to see...
36:39That's so breaking.
36:40Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!
36:42It's never taken this much weight.
36:44Oh!
36:46Ha-ha!
36:48Winner!
36:50So, I got a lose, so I'm down to nought, and you had the most.
36:54So, yes, it's an absolute draw.
36:56It's zero...
36:58Everybody has zero point.
37:00Well, you can play it at home, if you've got some eggs that are well past their sell-by date,
37:05and some pieces of wood and some screws and a piece of plywood to protect your kitchen table,
37:08even though you've made some screw holes in it, or you need some scales as well.
37:12And that's an exit.
37:14Ah!
37:20But it's not all fun and games, you know.
37:23We have also been working hard to reduce plastic waste.
37:26Our goal was to recycle some ourselves and transform it into something exquisite and enduring.
37:33A game fit for the pub.
37:36Have we been victorious?
37:38So, viewers, we are ready to show you our draft set for the pub made out of recycled plastic.
37:46Not just recycled plastic, plastic that we have recycled ourselves.
37:49This is such a big moment.
37:53Because we're blasé about the idea of recycling, we say, oh, yes, I recycle everything.
37:57And what you really mean is you put it in a different coloured bin bag.
38:01You haven't done anything different from what you were doing in the 1970s, i.e. throwing things away.
38:06It's just now you put it in something with the colours, so you think, oh, I'm saving the environment.
38:10Rubbish.
38:11The way you save it is to not recycle it in the first place.
38:14You take it and you turn it into something else.
38:17That's what we've done.
38:19Ignore this box.
38:20We've just put it in this old chess set box so that we can do what in TV is called a reveal.
38:27Is everybody ready?
38:28It's possibly a bit smaller than you were expecting from the amount of angst and energy that was involved.
38:45I think the word is homespun.
38:47It's brilliant.
38:48It's exquisite.
38:50It is exquisite and it shall endure.
38:52Here is the board.
38:53You might look at this and say that's very small.
38:57I say it's convenient and travel size.
39:00It's quite amazing how much plastic it took to make that small set.
39:05That's a very good point because we had a massive heap of milk bottles and milk bottle tops.
39:10Okay, would you two like to play?
39:12Yeah.
39:14In the interests of entertainment, for this game we will be playing speed drafts.
39:19Although I must point out Simi is at a slight disadvantage.
39:24He is colour blind and red and green look the same to him.
39:28Which is something we didn't consider rather stupidly when we made the set.
39:32That's red though.
39:33Yes.
39:34Okay, that's alright.
39:35Plus I wondered why you didn't do that earlier.
39:36Well, because I couldn't see it.
39:38That's because you couldn't see it.
39:40You're playing a man who can't tell the difference between the two sets.
39:42I'd take the wins where I can.
39:44Oh, massive error.
39:45Oh, I forgot you could go backwards.
39:46You can if you're taking people.
39:49I forgot.
39:51Bit shafted aren't you?
39:52I am.
39:53That's Tony, that's you.
39:55Why is that there then?
39:57Because Tony's popped it up.
39:59There you go, the first ever victory on the Royal Oak homemade recycled plastics drafts board.
40:05Was won by a man who can't see it.
40:08So, there you have it.
40:10We drank the milk, collected the bottles and tops and turned them into something useful.
40:15Something that may well outlive us all.
40:19Now that is the true definition of recycling.
40:23Before Tony demands a rematch, we must move to another part of the pub to meet Peter and return his Victorian games box, which has been fixed for the first time in 150 years.
40:38There wasn't really a great deal wrong with it, but it was coming apart at the seams here and there.
40:43There was a loop missing.
40:45It was a bit broken off.
40:46Because I did tell him I'd make it look like a repair.
40:49I think that's fine though, because I really struggled with making it look like new.
40:52And I think every little mark tells a story, every bit has got a story behind it.
40:58I think you're right.
40:59Personality and character.
41:00Hello.
41:01Here is Peter.
41:02Nice to see you again.
41:04Good evening.
41:05So, your Victorian games box, Peter.
41:08We spent quite a bit of time on it.
41:09We haven't restored it because you asked us not to.
41:12Various joints around here have been re-glued along the front.
41:17You remember this piece had sheared off and this piece was missing.
41:20Yes.
41:21I've made you a new one, but did promise that I would make it look like a repair so that it was part of the story.
41:25Yes.
41:26And so it is.
41:27And now, if we open it up, da-da-da-da, and remove the very wordy instruction book, you will see, sir, two loops.
41:38Where there was only one.
41:41Those have been freshly made by us.
41:43And Tony has reassembled this entire tray.
41:48And it was almost impossible to get it out.
41:51Yes.
41:52And if you tried it, it fell apart.
41:54Literally.
41:55Well.
41:56Because all these pieces were loose.
41:57There's no rhyme or reason to why it's made the way it is.
42:00Yes.
42:01When it came apart, literally every piece of it fell apart.
42:04Yes.
42:05And there's lots of little pieces.
42:07We haven't spoiled the very extensive pattern and story that is within the wood.
42:14Yes.
42:15I think that's the important thing, because every mark's got a story behind it.
42:17Yes.
42:18Oh, yes.
42:19And we had this dilemma, didn't we, about whether we'd clean this up and make it look brand new.
42:22Yes.
42:23Well, I think it would ruin it.
42:24I think it would ruin it.
42:25Yeah, we did want to plane it all down.
42:27Yes.
42:28But we fought that urge.
42:30Do you think anyone will ever play any of these games again?
42:33Or is this...
42:34Well, I think they will.
42:35We used to play a little bit with my children when they were small.
42:38But now, the next generation have come along and hopefully the grandchildren will enjoy it.
42:44And that, er, is for you.
42:47Right.
42:48Well, thank you very much indeed.
42:49Well, I'm glad I brought it along.
42:51Absolute pleasure.
42:52We were fascinated by it.
42:53Don't sell it.
42:54No, don't sell it.
42:55Certainly not.
42:56Don't drop it.
42:57Oh, no.
42:58Because it will disintegrate.
42:59It will do many generations yet.
43:01Excellent.
43:03Goodbye.
43:04Thank you for coming.
43:05Bye.
43:06Bye.
43:07Ooh, that's another satisfied customer.
43:09Bye.
43:14Bye.
43:15Bye.
43:16Bye.
43:17Bye.
43:18Bye.
43:19Bye.
43:20Bye.
43:21Bye.
43:22Bye.
43:23Bye.
43:24Bye.
43:25Bye.
43:26Bye.
43:27Bye.
43:28Bye.
43:29Bye.
43:30Bye.
43:31Bye.
43:32Bye.
43:33Bye.
43:34Bye.
43:35Bye.
43:36Bye.
43:37Bye.
43:38Bye.
43:39Bye.
43:40Bye.
43:41Bye.
43:42Bye.
43:43Bye.
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