5 Skilled Artisans Making Stuff by Hand

So much of what we use is mass produced in factories by machines, but there are still people crafting things by hand. In this reel, we profile a variety of skilled artisans including a craftsman who builds automatons, a family that creates inventive custom coffins and two men who have been making the wooden carousels we all love to ride for over 30 years.

Video Script:: 

[Music] entropy is the gradual decline into disorder I'm always aware that passing and the toll that it's taking on all the objects around me these objects need someone to make sure that hundred years from now they're going to be delighting people just as they are today I'm an antiquarian neurologist it's quite a rare title to have next to your name I work on objects that have a watch or clock mechanism I may be one of two people that has a master's in horological conservation in this country I'm basically a mechanic but a mechanic from the 17th century I specialize in micro mechanics and I work on machines called automata they're made to mimic living things in the world human beings birds animals flowers I think of them as the first instances of artificial intelligence everything is self-contained in these mechanisms they run usually with Springs so it's it's not running on batteries it's all running from just brass and steel anytime I get an object that's broken there's this innate need to bring it back because these objects are so old if they need a part that I don't have which is more often than not the case I will go and make it myself [Music] it's the closest you can get to bringing something to life you get a silent bird the wings are broken there's no feathers it doesn't have eyes I get to bring all those things back so that it can sing again [Music] I feel they're a significant part of our cultural heritage they were made in ways that I couldn't even do myself they were done by candlelight they didn't have electricity so I know they were using a foot pedal to cut wheels [Music] it's an incredible amount of work and craftsmanship just to create something beautiful for the sake of that people believe that these her ologists were sorcerer's so in a way I guess I'm a modern antique sorcerer Nabucco machine I'm in play Goomer come on ba eager Anna okay type of bitch before you communion 50 in Ghana coffins can look like this they're carved into whimsical shapes and painted bright colors meant to represent a person's life or occupation veggie anon city a bag well addict I didn't even power [Music] okay bye drive a cab Buddha was morning Coolio first morning I feel lonely Allen Bowie Yahoo request more Navi Nelly anon and his family are at the center of these extravagantly designed larger-than-life coffins made in the shape of whatever one desires a decaf not alone each morning he gone on it it started about 65 years ago with an odd request from a chief to be buried in a coffin shaped like a cocoa pod from there the request kept coming in and anons father realized he had a serious business on his hands while funerals are sad occasion in Ghana many also see them as an opportunity to celebrate the deceased will maneuver here ooh yeah I feel tomorrow I celebrate oh yeah no Kuni Yamanaka way when an order comes in for one of their coffins they first get the measurements of the deceased carve the wood into the shape of the families choosing create an opening and stand up for smoothness it then goes to an artist for painting once interior stuffed it's ready to be delivered to the family and these coffins are not only delivered locally Los Angeles regarding Kapiti geometry democracia as for anon he already has has picked out this morning I can open the were to snooze masala D fellow Seca Hoboken automatic on Bolin function Augustinian pokey do I apply static on automatic Ultimo in celibacy is a homogeneous socket registrar of psychopaths Modi fellow since school to her anime same sensation of Janaki Verma pelvis was you know chef Eric DeSoto bad habit as unconscious she threw her mineral on a mechanic the peel to petty apricot a deck of a automat reales / artistic Durham Echenique mm turn on the rascal - SS a chemo kima pure Delta bar the previews automatically won't desert only the deserts yeah a pure fantasy team check from Raymond develop a DeSoto Matt take complex Polly poke the map tyrion obsesed you know the poor affair this shows us complex Kirksey surfers a or elephant EDG team check all over to Zoo look at quantity would prefer not to matchable could yell could match AI addition ask you to be on a formal personage I play anonymous Jordan a dead lizard the prepare there is a be the 11 Easter he selects of a beaucoup de Medici the Danny ownership on a passive put at risk at was associate Autobot aesthetic Sabah relative of it may say sir - como effects are como opportunity mismo que sigue fair photo convento s assets is a see no metal part [Music] select boy Yvonne ahead this autumn at Porto completes head in well shows massive Persia estimates every mod farewell winner no michi a power mode limit opens revel to continue a deck available for shows Oprah to rule on a pillow [Music] how many time to get one of the only people in the world doing what you're doing yeah there's other people that have tried it that they haven't lasted my name is I Richie and I went to Cole when there was a carousel works and I'm Dan Jones and I'm the other owner of carousel works weirdo largest manufacturer of wooden carousels in the world art and I met through a third party that we both knew I went over to shop one day and we were talking and one thing led to another and from there it just kind of took off I was doing restoration he's doing carvings now we've got a 50-50 partnership for 30 years and there's no very few partners just last over three years so you know it's not to say we haven't had differences over the years and it was like being married but not that bad we average in different stages probably three carousels a year we're actually working on four right now we have carousels all around the world we made the Cincinnati riverfront carousel we have one in the Bronx Zoo we have one to Kansas City Zoo the Nashville's of the Atlanta zoo the riverbank zoo we even made the Smithsonian National Zoo carousel Sarah sells will put people in the eye of the oh they're absolutely beautiful when you watch people write it here so the kids are just loving to go up and down and put these big smiles and then write clumps of stuff can we go again it's fantastic [Music] this story takes place in London in the neighborhood of eastling 10th behind door number 7 on both amuse we're 15 people are working hard to keep one handmade tradition alive clothes clothes clothes [Music] some of the world's last handmade gloves get made under the guidance of this guy Peter Beller be let's begin here's our team there's me Peter Bellamy and I'm the owner and I have a hand in all the large globes there's a woodworking team they make them finish all our bases our globe makers datum blank spheres into Globes then there's Lear our cartographer she customizes all our maps our painters they bring our globes to life and Lea our apprentice there's a reason we're one of the last making Globes is extremely complicated so ready we make the globe we draw positioning lines we apply the paper to the sphere that's the hardest part we paint the globe we vanish the go we ship the globe yeah yeah yeah that's it I'm start finished for a small globe it takes a month the large globe it will take six to eight months I mean when I started I gave myself three months so to two years it is crazy if I'd known how difficult it was at the beginning I'd never have done it it's not logical it's not theoretical there are no books it's just about patience practice and perfection I completely love it we grow up with gloves we see a globe we ask your parents where are we from what is it all about they show us and you see this massive expanse and you're just a tiny little dot that's not even there it can help you dream of things it can help you imagine things the only thing in life that's a necessity is food and water but if I was going to surround myself with with things that meant something to me a globe would be high on that list [Music]