Watch old bridge parts get resurrected into an insanely overbuilt turntable
On an episode of "Made By Destruction" on the Science Channel, foundry workers melt steel sourced from discarded bridges to build the most metal turntable ever.
Believe it or not, you can fund your own DIY turntable for less than the cost of a trip to Whole Foods, and it only takes six steps to make it.
It's so simple, in fact, the Science Channel recently built its own on an episode of the show "Made By Destruction." But instead of going the cheap route with plywood and batteries, the team sourced reclaimed steel from structurally faulty bridges to make the most metal record player ever.
According to the clip posted below, there are more than 600,000 bridges in the United States alone. When some of them face unfixable structural issues, the steel parts are melted down and every ounce is recycled and reused.
For this project, Virginia foundry workers liquefy the bridge parts and pour the molten cast iron into a mold for the base of the turntable. When the sand mold hardens into resin, it breaks apart and leaves the massive plinth ready for the milling process.
All that's left is to drill holes for the wires running through the tone arm and the accompanying stylus. At the same time, a machinist makes a 35-pound brass platter, adds the spindle along with the belt that spins it around, and the assembly is finished.
The result is a beautiful, immovable turntable that scoffs in the face of record-skipping vibrations. Check it out below!