The making of a TV bracket
To some this might seem an unnecessary subject to write about but to me I’ve always been interested in how things are made, where they’re made and all the various bits of useless information about the items in our lives we just take for granted.
The humble TV bracket caught my attention the other day for no particular reason other than we had just bought one – a very nice tilt, swivel TV bracket with an extendable arm in a black finish to match the TV my father had treated us too on the 20th anniversary of our wedding.
The bracket was now sitting proudly on the wall boldly holding the not inconsiderable weight of the TV as if it was a job beneath its purpose, but then again I expect if you’re making these things they have to be able to hold many times the weight of the TV otherwise you’d be sued for countless broken sets.
My background had been in industry where we made parts for industrial motors and generators so I was well versed with the intricacies of manufacturing. Clearly the TV bracket had been made up of several smaller parts – clever in design but really very simple.
The Chinese have long since mastered the ability to break jobs down into their component parts and here was another classic example. The core of the TV bracket was as expected steel – cold rolled steel 2mm thick and no doubt the main reason why the TV bracket weighed so much. Each of the major parts had either been pressure stamped out to shape and with the cut out parts punched through or had been pressure rolled and then welded such as the extendable arm. This way by stamping, rolling, welding they had built up the whole collection. Add in some simple swivel devices using a bolt through a drilled hole controlled by the tension in the bolt nut and there it is – a series of very basic items cleverly designed so that once assembled there is a sophisticated multi action bracket.
Everything had I’d of imagined been acid cleaned after base fabrication and then powder coated to give an attractive yet robust finish. Assembled by semi skilled hands following a meticulous process, boxed up with instructions and a very full set of fittings and shipped to the UK – job done.
As I looked at the TV on the wall and the study TV bracket again I appreciated where it had come from, the people who had operated the presses and the welders – it served to remind me again just how ingenious us humans are.
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