0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, viewers. I'm James May and this is The Reassembler,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07the show where we take everyday objects in their component form
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and put them back together very slowly.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11That feels very nice.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Oh, yes, look at that.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'It is only when these much-loved and iconic objects are laid out in
0:00:17 > 0:00:18'hundreds of bits...'
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Oh, man in heaven.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21'..and then slowly reassembled
0:00:21 > 0:00:24'that you can truly understand and appreciate
0:00:24 > 0:00:25'how they work...'
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Total rubbish.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28'..and just how ingenious they are.'
0:00:28 > 0:00:29It's good, isn't it?
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'And, if painstakingly putting hundreds of pieces back together again...'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34That's quite satisfying.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38'..wasn't hard enough, I then have to hope...'
0:00:38 > 0:00:39Deep joy.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40'..that they'll work.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:41There's some moisture on my spectacles
0:00:41 > 0:00:43because I've started weeping.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Today, I am going to assemble a chocolate cake
0:00:49 > 0:00:50and the ingredients are
0:00:50 > 0:00:57milk, flour, sugar, butter, cocoa powder, capacitor, choke resistor,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01single phase A/C electric motor, planetary gear,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05intermediate and penultimate gears, pinions, shim washers,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08aluminium die castings, a light dusting of screws and washers,
0:01:08 > 0:01:09and two eggs.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Back in the '50s,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17the kitchen was being transformed by all manner of new and exciting
0:01:17 > 0:01:21time-saving devices and electrifying machinery.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25And being able to mix cake batter quickly was of utmost importance to
0:01:25 > 0:01:27housewives everywhere.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31The KitchenAid may have revolutionised fast cake mixing
0:01:31 > 0:01:34but it was the Kenwood Chef A701A,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37which emerged in the 1960s, that took it one step
0:01:37 > 0:01:42further, with its multifunctional attachments and its sleek lines.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46It became a cornerstone of modern living.
0:01:46 > 0:01:53These are the 235 components of a Kenwood Chef A701A food mixer.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55A literal revolution,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58hundreds of them per minute, in fact, in domestic cooking
0:01:58 > 0:02:00and I'm going to put them back together.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03And we're going to start with electric motor,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06since that is what separates this from the pestle and mortar.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14So, I'll need the armature, a fan, some coils, the casing,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19a couple of brush holders and brushes, and three wavy washers.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23That should keep me going until you turn over to a soap.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Now, you are going to have to bear with me a bit on this one because
0:02:29 > 0:02:31when the office said, "What sort of food mixer
0:02:31 > 0:02:32would you like to reassemble?"
0:02:32 > 0:02:34I said, "What's a food mixer?"
0:02:34 > 0:02:37It's completely uncharted territory,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41although it does contain some things that I know about - electric motors,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43a bit of soldering, I imagine.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Screws, washers, you know, all that stuff.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52As a younger man, I used to think - wouldn't it be funny if there was
0:02:52 > 0:02:54actually somebody in the world called Ken Wood,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56which wouldn't be an uncommon name,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and he happened to be a chef so he became Ken Wood, chef?
0:03:00 > 0:03:02It turns out that Ken Wood,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I thought it was Sir Alexander Kenwood, but it's not.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09He was called Ken Wood, so he named his company Kenwood.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13I think he also had a boat that he named Kenwood.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19The basic idea of an electric motor is very simple.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23You put electricity in one end, and it rotates the shaft at the other,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and that's it.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28You can then take the shaft and attach it to whatever you like.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And once I've finished constructing this motor,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33I'll connect ours to the paddle,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35which will mix our chocolate cake mix.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37SNAP
0:03:37 > 0:03:38Oh, yes, that feels rather good.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40That's a fantastic invention.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Imagine all the things that would be incredibly tedious hard work.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46We'd have no power tools...
0:03:48 > 0:03:50..no electric cars,
0:03:50 > 0:03:51no electric trains.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55'And I'd be reassembling a bowl and a wooden spoon,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57'which would be even less interesting than this.'
0:03:57 > 0:04:00So, there is still a little bit more of electric motor to do,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04which involves a bit more casing, that bit,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06plus we need two more washers...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12..and two more screws. That will probably do for now
0:04:12 > 0:04:15because I'm...this will take me a while.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20It did take a while, but, one hour and seven minutes after I began,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24the motor is almost assembled and the casing in place.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Now I can attach the fan,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28which also helps regulate the speed of the motor.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Now, this is secured with a grub screw.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It's going in with an Allen key and it's going to be an imperial size,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I'm guessing, as this is British and quite old.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41But I have a set, magically.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48The imperial system harks back to...
0:04:49 > 0:04:53..in many cases, divisions of the human body.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54So, the foot was a foot.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58The inch, I think, was originally the end of somebody's thumb,
0:04:58 > 0:04:59and so on, and so on.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The metric system is, in essence, divisible by ten.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08The imperial system, its advocates would argue,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11is great because it is divisible by more numbers.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13So, if you had a shilling,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16it is quite easy to divide into two people's worth of money,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19or three people's or four people's.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23One of the things I do like about the imperial system is that...
0:05:24 > 0:05:27..it's more conversational, if you like -
0:05:27 > 0:05:30a lot of it is more easy to relate to, you can say,
0:05:30 > 0:05:31"Oh, we missed it by half an inch."
0:05:31 > 0:05:36You can't really miss something by 12 and a bit millimetres.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38The imperial system is
0:05:38 > 0:05:41almost dead, really, for most things.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46I'll close the lid on the imperial system and put it gently to rest.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50On top of the... small metric spanners.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Right.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I'm now just going to sit here and drink my cup of tea for a while
0:05:57 > 0:05:59because every other one I've had in this series has gone cold.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05This is metric tea.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Next up is the speed control unit of my food mixer.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19For this, I'll need a switch, a couple of retaining screws,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21a mounting plate, and a capacitor.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23That's a capacitor.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Blow my head off later.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26That's a...
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Holy Moley, look at all this.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34There's going to be some soldering in a minute.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38I hate soldering. Do you know what?
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Looking at this thing, I am quite curious to use one.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42There's a great advert that says...
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I hardly dare repeat it for fear of getting my balls kicked off by
0:06:48 > 0:06:51the sisterhood. I'm not saying this, I'm quoting the advert,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53which is from the '60s, I believe.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56And it says something like,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59"The Kenwood Chef does everything except the cooking,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01"that's what wives are for."
0:07:02 > 0:07:05But just to reiterate, I'm not saying that,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I'm not saying I agree with it, I don't agree with it,
0:07:08 > 0:07:09I'm merely quoting it.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It's a historical document.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16I can also tell you some things that Hitler said,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20it doesn't mean I'm a Nazi, it just means I happen to know what he said.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Now, I can clip these bits together and attach the capacitor.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It's sort of like a little temporary battery.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30It stores a bit of electricity and releases it when you need it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32That's a fairly reasonable definition of a capacitor.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34That's why they are
0:07:34 > 0:07:35a bit dangerous to muck about with
0:07:35 > 0:07:39because you can think you've turned something off and you have,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and there's no electricity going into it
0:07:42 > 0:07:45but there is some electricity hiding in it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49It's like a little electrical booby-trap.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Get in, you horrible metal.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I think we may be approaching...
0:08:00 > 0:08:02..the inevitable hour -
0:08:02 > 0:08:06which is what Thomas Gray might have been talking about had he gone to
0:08:06 > 0:08:09an electronic workshop rather than a country churchyard -
0:08:09 > 0:08:11we're going to have to do some soldering.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12I've just had a thought.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14I've been given... I've been dying to try this out,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17I've been given this, this is a gift,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and I suspect it's been given to me
0:08:19 > 0:08:22with the intention of making me look like a total knob,
0:08:22 > 0:08:27but what it is, it's a head-mounted magnifying system,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29so you get...
0:08:30 > 0:08:32..you get a selection of lenses...
0:08:34 > 0:08:36You must put your glasses on to read the thing
0:08:36 > 0:08:38that tells you what size the lenses are.
0:08:41 > 0:08:432.5. I'm going to try 2.5.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51So I can't see a thing over there, but if I look down there,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54wow, that's amazing.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57There's a light on it, isn't there? Somewhere.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58How do you switch that on?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Is that...? Yeah, look,...
0:09:06 > 0:09:08How cool do I look?
0:09:08 > 0:09:10If I wear it down the pub, will I score, do you think?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I can't work out where the cup of tea is.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15THEY ALL GIGGLE
0:09:28 > 0:09:30'This is not only about looking good,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32'it's also about accurate soldering
0:09:32 > 0:09:34'of capacitor to speed controller plate.'
0:09:34 > 0:09:35That's brilliant. Look at that,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38that's the best soldered joint I've ever done.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43After a jaunty four hours and 23 minutes,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47I've built the A/C motor and added the fan and the on-off switch.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50I've also reassembled the speed control board and attached it to
0:09:50 > 0:09:53the motor, so I can move on.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Though, as the motor is, it is just a motor with a rotating shaft,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02it needs to transfer all that drive to the gearbox and everything else,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04so that requires a belt system. A toothed belt.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07We don't need the belt yet but we do need the belt pulley,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09that little retaining ring...
0:10:10 > 0:10:12..these four screws.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22So this is the drive belt pulley, which mounts on the other end of
0:10:22 > 0:10:24the motor with a roll pin.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25This is going to be slightly tricky
0:10:25 > 0:10:28because you would normally have a roll pin squeezer
0:10:28 > 0:10:33to do this, which I don't have, so we'll improvise slightly.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36The first Kenwood Chef...
0:10:38 > 0:10:39..was launched in 1950.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46"Eye appeal is buy appeal," said Ken Wood himself.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49He recognised, quite early on, actually,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53that attractive domestic appliances would sell better than ugly ones.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57And we still see that today, with designer fridges and
0:10:57 > 0:11:02those trendy Italian tin openers and lemon squeezers
0:11:02 > 0:11:03and what have you.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08And the first one sold out within a week, from Harrods.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12It was probably considered quite a posh thing
0:11:12 > 0:11:13because I think, in today's money,
0:11:13 > 0:11:18it cost the equivalent of something like £600.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20I think that has lined up.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Let's try squeezing it with pliers,
0:11:22 > 0:11:27even though my instincts tell me that's not quite right.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Ah, there you go, that's bloody perfect.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33That is the entire electric motor,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36the belt pulley and the speed control unit
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and the connection to the mains
0:11:39 > 0:11:41complete. And, more joyously,
0:11:41 > 0:11:46we can move onto something that I like and understand - the gearbox.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53News has just reached me from the sadists who put this programme together
0:11:53 > 0:11:56that I haven't finished the electric motor, there are some other bits,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58so we'll do that again.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Well, that's the electric motor almost finished,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02just a few more bits to put on.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I can joyously head back to the table
0:12:09 > 0:12:11to get the final bits of the motor.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I can then blissfully attach the knob
0:12:13 > 0:12:18and Ken's name badge to finally complete the A/C electric motor.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26That is the motor and the controls and the knob and the connectors all
0:12:26 > 0:12:27definitely finished,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30and we can move on to something I'm much happier with - the gearbox.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33I'm looking forward to this bit.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36There is no soldering in it, for one thing.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Now I'm going to remove from the table everything in this line here,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44which is the gearbox, and I like the idea of the gearbox
0:12:44 > 0:12:46because I understand gears.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49They can be considered levers in circular form.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53They're important if you ride a bicycle, drive a car,
0:12:53 > 0:12:54have a food mixer...
0:12:56 > 0:12:59..play Spirograph, all sorts of things.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01Look at that lovely thing.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08I know that's going to feel nice with some grease on it somewhere.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Hours of fun.
0:13:11 > 0:13:12Hours.
0:13:17 > 0:13:23What I find interesting about gears is this shape on the teeth,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26that has taken a long time for humankind to arrive
0:13:26 > 0:13:29at a shape that meshes like that.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31It's extremely complicated, actually,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35if you analyse it right down to the Euclidean details.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37That is the legacy of many,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41many centuries of refinement and thought in geometry, metalworking...
0:13:43 > 0:13:44..arithmetic.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49Amazing. Anyway...
0:13:51 > 0:13:53How does it go together? Let's find out.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58This bit, I'm guessing, given that that has an annular gear,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00is an epicyclic of some sort
0:14:00 > 0:14:04because I know, when the food mixer goes round and round,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08it goes round whilst going round, it is epicyclic,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11it is something going round inside something that is in itself
0:14:11 > 0:14:14going round. Erm...
0:14:14 > 0:14:20So, I imagine there will be some planetary wheels inside there,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22and some sort of sun arrangement.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26I'm fairly confident that that goes in there.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28That runs in a nice bush.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I'm still going to put a slight smear of grease on it.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33We'll make this the greasing finger.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Oh, look at that going down.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I'm wondering if this is as interesting to watch on television
0:14:47 > 0:14:51as it is for me to do because, when you sit down at the bench
0:14:51 > 0:14:52with that pile of bits, you think,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54"Oh, God, how am I going to work this out?"
0:14:54 > 0:14:56But then, once you start doing it,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58it's a bit like a chess problem or something,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00you know there must be an answer...
0:15:01 > 0:15:02..and you just have to work it out.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07And I believe I have gone some way to working it out,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09so I'm feeling incredibly pleased with myself.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12Now, look,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15you'll want me to say something about how I love using lubricant
0:15:15 > 0:15:17or something like that, I know you do,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and then you can tweet about it and go, "Oh, he said..."
0:15:20 > 0:15:23So, I'm not going to.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Having said that,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27lubrication is incredibly important...
0:15:29 > 0:15:31..if things aren't to wear out,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34overheat, be destroyed by friction.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39The interesting thing about oil and grease -
0:15:39 > 0:15:41the oil in the engine of your car, for example -
0:15:41 > 0:15:43because the oil is there,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46no two metal parts actually touch each other.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48They are separated by oil,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53and the layer of oil could be a molecule thick, even.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55But if you take the engine of a car...
0:15:57 > 0:16:01..it will last for, what, 200,000 miles, that's not unusual.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03If you ran it without any oil in it,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05it would probably last maybe a minute.
0:16:08 > 0:16:09That's how important oil is.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13What it is making me think, actually, as I do this, is
0:16:13 > 0:16:18how difficult and sophisticated cooking are you making
0:16:18 > 0:16:23all those cake mixes and batter and whatever else must have been.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Well, here's the thing. This is what bothers me.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Labour-saving, it started with things like this,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32so cooking becomes easier, mowing the lawn becomes easier,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35getting about becomes easier because we have bicycles and motorcycles and
0:16:35 > 0:16:37cars and so on. And then we had the digital revolution.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39And then...
0:16:39 > 0:16:42the microprocessor and the computer meant that we could work out
0:16:42 > 0:16:46fantastically complicated things and produce charts and diagrams and
0:16:46 > 0:16:50drawings that would have taken days or weeks to do on a drawing board or
0:16:50 > 0:16:51with a piece of paper and a pen,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54and there is all this time being saved by all these things
0:16:54 > 0:16:56but where's it gone?
0:16:58 > 0:17:00By rights, we should all be sitting at home
0:17:00 > 0:17:05learning to paint or play the violin or philosophising or something,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07but we're not. We're still running around like idiots,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11tending to the very machines that were supposed to save us.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Where is all this time we were promised?
0:17:14 > 0:17:15Where is the leisure society?
0:17:15 > 0:17:17It's full of people having heart attacks.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Time-saving devices free up time to spend
0:17:20 > 0:17:22with other time-saving devices,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26like video games, or reassembling things,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29which worked perfectly well before somebody took them apart.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35In the interest of reassembling this previously perfectly good thing,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I just need to apply some silicon sealant,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40then I can fit the two halves together.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45That is together. You can tell that is together because the silicone is
0:17:45 > 0:17:47evenly squeezed out all around.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49We can go ahead and put the screws in, though.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53But what a pleasing thing that is, isn't it?
0:17:53 > 0:17:56And it is more pleasing for knowing what's going on inside it.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59You have seen all of those inner workings,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02all those mysterious bits that most people never see
0:18:02 > 0:18:03and never even imagine.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07What you see is just a paddle going around and around and around,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10stirring up cake mixture, it's fairly boring, really.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12But once you have seen it
0:18:12 > 0:18:16in its nakedness, disassembled, and you've had to put it back together,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18you know what's actually going on,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22you'll never look at one of these in the same way again, and say, "Ah,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24"yes, that's going to be some chocolate brownies,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26"thanks to a planetary gear system."
0:18:31 > 0:18:33That is a nylon washer.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39That is the securing nut, which will have to be nipped up.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I thought that was five eighths, it's not quite, but anyway.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46That's the main gearbox-y bit of it done.
0:18:46 > 0:18:47I enjoyed that.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50Mechanisms.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52They're nice.
0:18:55 > 0:18:56Super.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00'In the mere blink of an eye,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03'which just happened to last for seven hours and one minute,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07'I've rebuilt not only the motor but also the gearbox,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09'which I now have to fill with grease
0:19:09 > 0:19:11'to ensure that all those moving parts
0:19:11 > 0:19:14'remain lubricated for the next 50 years.'
0:19:14 > 0:19:16One, two, three, four, five, six,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It could be a new form of aerobics.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Right, that is the gearbox and the motor complete.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34They are quite esoteric, really.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38We can now move on to bits that start to make it look like something
0:19:38 > 0:19:40you would expect to find in your kitchen,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43namely, the pedestal, as it's called,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45the sort of chassis of the thing.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Evil-looking spring, look at that.
0:19:48 > 0:19:49The motor housing.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And...these bits.
0:19:57 > 0:19:58Follow me.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06Now, this next bit, I'm advised, can be a bit tricky.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07This is the little arm that stops
0:20:07 > 0:20:10the whole thing falling apart completely
0:20:10 > 0:20:11when you open it up.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14I'm sure it has a name,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16I don't know what it is.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19That will go through there, through the spring.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And you have to...keep the spring out of the way...
0:20:31 > 0:20:32..while that goes on.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35Piece of cake.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I don't know what all the fuss was about.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Watch as this becomes even more of a Kenwood mixer.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49There is a tube to go inside it.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51That will go like so.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54And, then, the pin...
0:20:56 > 0:20:58..would feed through from that side
0:20:58 > 0:21:00until that groove for the circlip
0:21:00 > 0:21:02appears on the other side,
0:21:02 > 0:21:03which I think it just did.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08I am now going to mount the motor assembly.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09So, let's...
0:21:17 > 0:21:19It can only go one way round because the knob...
0:21:21 > 0:21:22..goes through the hole.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27I think that, erm,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29we may have arrived at an important moment.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32CLICK
0:21:32 > 0:21:34That is quite pleasing. There's a hell of a spring in there.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Now, I do believe we can put the gearbox assembly onto there.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Now, that really does look like a food mixer, then, doesn't it?
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Without taking a modern food mixer apart,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54I don't really know how different it would be from this one.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59The mechanical aspects of it, I imagine, would be exactly the same
0:21:59 > 0:22:00because gears are gears.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05I mean, the thing is we have this idea that stuff in the past
0:22:05 > 0:22:07lasted a long time but that is because we can only see the stuff
0:22:07 > 0:22:09that's lasted a long time,
0:22:09 > 0:22:10we forget about all the stuff that
0:22:10 > 0:22:12we threw away because it was rubbish.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14So, it could be that,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18in the '70s, food mixers were built to last a long time
0:22:18 > 0:22:19and it might be that today...
0:22:21 > 0:22:23..kitchen knives are being made of steel
0:22:23 > 0:22:26that will sharpen forever and last
0:22:26 > 0:22:29a very long time so that another generation can say,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32"Oh, this isn't made properly, not like it was in the good old days.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35"Look at my old kitchen knife, I've had that for 50 years."
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Yes, you have, but everything else you had 50 years ago is long gone to
0:22:38 > 0:22:40landfill because it was rubbish.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Most of us only really know what happened based on what we can see,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47so, therefore, Medieval England was just full of cathedrals.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48It must have been amazing.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53It could be that the thing that survives is...
0:22:54 > 0:22:56..the reassembler.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01And if that is all that archaeologists can find in 50,000 years' time,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05they will say, "It was a strange age of man when people put things together,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08"we're not sure what these things were, one of them was a food mixer.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11"It lasted 50 years, you know. They don't make them like they used to."
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Let's go and get a few more pieces.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15It is very, very close now to being complete.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19I'm going to need the belt to transfer the drive
0:23:19 > 0:23:21from the motor to the gearbox.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23This plate.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25This plate.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26And that.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28And that's it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Right.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39That is a tooth belt,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43that is a little bit like the final drive of a large Harley-Davidson.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44That's looking quite good.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49CLUNKING
0:23:49 > 0:23:51That makes a good comedy noise, doesn't it?
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Goo-glug.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54That goes on top...
0:23:57 > 0:23:58Thus.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01And, now...
0:24:03 > 0:24:05..the crowd goes quiet as the flex is thread
0:24:05 > 0:24:09through the hole at the back of the Ken Wood...
0:24:09 > 0:24:10mixer.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15So, that cable is twice clamped,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17just in the back of the machine,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19as, of course, it will also be clamped in the plug.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22You could probably swing from a suspension bridge by this machine
0:24:22 > 0:24:24and you'd be absolutely fine.
0:24:26 > 0:24:27CLICK
0:24:27 > 0:24:29That's so satisfying.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Nice, big clunky noises.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33That's a big clunky noise.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40We are moving onto parts of the machine now that help, really,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42to cement its identity,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46the identity being the work of Sir Kenneth Grange,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49the designer who did not only this
0:24:49 > 0:24:53but things like the Kodak Instamatic,
0:24:53 > 0:24:54I think he did a radio.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Most famously, he did the InterCity 125 train,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02the shape of it, and the cab, I believe.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06And that was a fantastic-looking thing.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09This is what the future looked like when this was designed.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10It was quite minimalist.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13They, you know, lost the curviness that you would associate with the 1950s,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and we have gone to this rather squarer form
0:25:16 > 0:25:17that you would eventually
0:25:17 > 0:25:20come to associate with most of the 1970s.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21That goes in there.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24The most important thing to remember about Sir Kenneth Grange
0:25:24 > 0:25:27was that he was called Ken.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29You weren't really allowed to work for Ken Wood
0:25:29 > 0:25:32unless you were also called Ken because that would have meant
0:25:32 > 0:25:34renaming a lot of things - his house,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37his boat, his haircut - the lot.
0:25:39 > 0:25:46Put the handle on, like so, and, then, put that on top of there,
0:25:46 > 0:25:47like that.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Fantastic. You would never guess,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52looking at that rather simplistic minimalist shape,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54just what is going on
0:25:54 > 0:25:55inside that thing.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57That motor, that gearbox,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00all those hundreds of screws and little bits and pieces
0:26:00 > 0:26:03and the release lever,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05the epicyclic arrangement.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07It's all fantastic, isn't it?
0:26:10 > 0:26:12There it is, the Kenwood Chef.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Just arrange it artfully for you, there.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Now, for the penultimate visit to the table,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25where I can finally get the mixing panel,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29which is shaped like a K for Ken.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36I'm guessing that goes into there and you lock it in position with
0:26:36 > 0:26:39a little nip on that.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I've never done this. How does this go in?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Now, of the 235 pieces that we started with,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51there is one left to put on.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Can you guess what it is?
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Without it,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59the machine is useless,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01or extremely messy and dangerous...
0:27:01 > 0:27:03at any rate. It's this -
0:27:03 > 0:27:06the bowl, the mixing bowl.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08What a wonderful thing.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10We are going to make a cake.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17My 1960s food mixer is nearly complete.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19The last nine hours and 32 minutes
0:27:19 > 0:27:21have been so enjoyable that I think, in future,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23I may take apart and reassemble
0:27:23 > 0:27:26all my kitchen appliances before I use them.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I'll see if this one works first, though.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Let's begin with the all-important cocoa powder.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34All I have to do, remember, in the modern world,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36is chuck it in the bowl.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Sugar and flour in equal amounts.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47The butter and milk.
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Two eggies.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07Fantastic. There you are.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11The motor, the speed controller, the gearbox,
0:28:11 > 0:28:12the K paddle, the bowl,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14the chassis.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Most importantly, the ingredients for a cake.
0:28:17 > 0:28:18Does it work?
0:28:19 > 0:28:21It has to work, otherwise...
0:28:22 > 0:28:24..it's just going to be a mess.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28To the memory of Kenneth Wood.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31WHIRRING
0:28:31 > 0:28:32Ye-e-e-es! Ha-ha.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Look at that, it really works.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Let's find a baking tray and warm up the oven.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Who's taken the oven apart?