Unless you have never been outside your own home, you have seen bricks and brickwork somewhere in the world. One of the few constants that we as humans seem to be able to agree upon is the use of the brick. A simple and easy to create and modify building material that stands the test of time can be shipped across vast distances, and in most cases can actually be made on site. Knowing all of this you might be thinking that you should be able to invest in making bricks or at least make your own for your next project, but how to make bricks use a brick machine if you buy or rent one, and what are some other things you should know before making your decision?
1. Pick the Right Materials
Picking the right materials for the climate you are in is important. Bricks are so variable because they are made to work best for the climate they are in. Some areas will allow for non-natural options or for more natural materials to be the core of your brick. However, some areas are too humid or too dry to allow for certain recipes, meaning that they would break or wear down over time.
2. Mix Your Materials
The first step to any good brick is to make everything that goes into it a gross paste that will eventually become the brick. At this step care should be taken to make sure that the paste is completely smooth. Most machines will pulverize or liquefy the base material before water is added, ensuring that the paste is smooth. Then the paste must be extruded, forming a smooth and malleable clay that is fully mixed.
ABM 4S block making machine working in Rizal Philippines
3. Form The Brick
The bricks will then be formed into a single long log, with care taken to shave this log down to the appropriate size. This entire log will then be cut and shaped by the block making machine, creating the telltale shape and size that we know and love. However, first any coatings, designs, or chemicals needed to change the coloring, weatherproof, or otherwise finish off the brick have to be added to the long log.
4. Finish The Bricks
The bricks then are fully cut into pieces, with the inner holes having been added during the extrusion process. The bricks then need to be put in to dry for about 3 days before they are put into the kiln and fully baked. Taking the time to evaporate the water more completely will result in higher quality bricks. This means each brick set will take about 5 days from starting production to being able to ship or use the bricks.
The process of making bricks sounds like it takes a lot of time, but once the machine is loaded with the proper materials the entire process will take about 20 minutes. The most labor intensive part is actually loading and unloading the kiln and packing everything up to ship. Many batches can be produced each day with any size block machine.