Making a machine for making bricks at home

A machine for making bricks at home will come in handy if you are planning construction, but want to save on material.

A machine for making bricks at home will help you save money on the purchase of building materials.

Ceramic products are made from a mixture of clay and sand, formed into briquettes, and given strength by firing. This material is suitable for the construction of objects for various purposes. To make bricks you need special machines.

Sand-lime bricks are made from a mixture of sand and lime and treated with hot steam. Although bricks are made in factories, you can also make them at home. To do this you will need a brick press. You don’t have to buy it; you can make it yourself according to the drawings.

Types of material

Based on production technology and material composition, bricks are divided into:

• ceramic,
• pressed,
• silicate.

Ceramic bricks are made from clay that has been formed into briquettes, after which the required strength is given to it by firing. This type of material is used most often, because it is suitable for almost any stage of construction. Such a brick can be either solid (or solid), or it may have technological holes that make it lighter in weight. This material is often used for laying stoves and fireplaces.

Special machines are used to make pressed bricks. After pressing, they are dried so that they acquire the necessary strength.

As for sand-lime bricks, they are made from a mixture of 8 parts sand and one part lime. After pressing, they are processed in a special apparatus (autoclave), where they are exposed to hot steam supplied under pressure. This treatment gives the material the necessary strength. Today, sand-lime brick m150 is becoming increasingly popular. Its dimensions allow you to save on construction time. In addition, it uses less masonry mortar.

Types of equipment for brick production

Bricks are usually made in a factory using special equipment. However, there is a technology that allows you to make this building material from clay at home with your own hands. To do this, you only need a special brick press. Today it can be purchased from companies specializing in such equipment. Although no one forbids making such a press with your own hands. For this purpose, you will need very little: a sufficient amount of material (this could be, for example, sheets of steel) and a welding machine.

Before revealing the secrets of creating a homemade brick machine, we will tell you about their structural elements. Thus, this installation is a press equipped with a rotating base. Rotation occurs like a revolver. At the base there are receiving forms into which a special mixture is supplied. While the base rotates, the material is pressed in one cell, and the mixture is poured into free molds. On the other side of the installation, the finished product comes out. Using such a brick machine, you can quickly produce a batch of medium-sized products.

A screw press is often used to make bricks. In this equipment, almost all processes occur automatically. The body of such a press is usually made of cast iron. In addition, the design has a screw shaft and a supercharger. To obtain a product, the clay mass must first be loaded. Moreover, it is important that it has a humidity of 19 to 24%. The output is a product in the form of pressed timber. It is cut into several identical pieces to make bricks. Sometimes the timber is not divided into parts, but is used entirely as a separate building block.

There is also special equipment for the production of hyperpressed bricks. This press allows the raw material to be compressed as much as possible, resulting in a very durable brick. This technology can be used to produce hollow and solid (solid) blocks. The last of them are considered the most popular.

A variety of additives can be mixed into the clay. In general, slag is the most commonly added material. But recently, when pressing bricks, they also began to include components such as reeds or straw into clay. This makes production cheaper, and the bricks acquire some useful qualities.

Business relevance

Despite the crisis, the pace of construction in our country continues to increase in both the private and public sectors. Along with them, the popularity of building materials is growing. It is known that almost no construction is carried out without bricks, among which Lego can be called in demand.

A business idea to open an enterprise for its production can lead to the construction of a successful and quickly profitable enterprise, giving high profits, since there are still few competitors in this niche. By properly planning your activities, you can find your niche in the construction market and increase production turnover.

Brick making mixture

The production of clay bricks is based on the use of soils that contain no more than 10-14% clay. Silty soil and vegetation layer are not suitable for the mixture. If thin soils are used, then clay is added to them. In addition, you need to pay attention to the moisture content of the mixture. To check this, you need to take a handful of earth and squeeze it in your fist. In this case, the mixture should form a lump without leaving marks on your hands. Fatty soils are those that contain a lot of clay. If they are used, they include additives in the form of sand, slag and ash.

If the lumps of earth rolled up in a fist do not fall apart or smear, this means that such soil can be used. To increase resistance to moisture and strength, 16-18% hydrated fluff lime can be added to the raw material. By adding cement to the mass for making bricks, the strength of the product can be increased almost threefold. With this additive, the mixture must be used within one hour.

Molds for making bricks

Let's look at the key components of this form:

1. The main element of the mold is the matrix (denoted as M). How does she look? This is a stationary part in the form of a box without a lid or bottom.
2. Another important part is the punch (denoted as P). This is the movable bottom of the mold, which is controlled by the operator. It moves up and down. The compression force from the punch is transferred to the mixture. If the top cover is open, then the finished product, after completing the processing and pressing process, is pushed out of the matrix.
3. The mold also has a removable lid (designated K). This part covers the matrix from the top side, and it can be fixed using latches.

The machine can produce bricks of various shapes and configurations. This is possible by changing the inner surface of the cover and punch. The quality of products largely depends not only on the compression force, but also on the material, or rather the mixture from which they are pressed. A high-quality mortar makes it possible to obtain a brick whose strength is up to 40 kg/cm2.

Working principle

The operating method of the Lego brick machine is simple.

The prepared working mixture should be poured into the hopper. A dispenser supplies the required amount of it into the molding matrix. Then the mixture is compressed using a lever.

A manual drive makes it possible to achieve a force of up to 2 tons, a hydraulic drive - 5-12 tons.

After completing the stroke of the lever in the working compartment, several (depending on the capacity of the matrix - from 3 to 15) ready-made Lego bricks are obtained. Next, open the working compartment and take out the molded Legos. The manual drive is driven by the operator's muscular strength; the pressure in the water system is pumped up by a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor.

Manual machine

Professional machines are quite expensive. The mixtures that are used to obtain finished products are also expensive. Today, machines for making bricks at home are actively used. They are in great demand on the farm, especially when carrying out construction work in a private house. Homemade installations are quite popular. To make a machine for making bricks with your own hands, you need to know the principle of its operation, as well as the product with what characteristics you want to obtain as a result of pressing.

Today, you can easily draw a drawing of a machine for making bricks yourself. It is not recommended to undertake such work without a schematic sketch. It is worth saying that to make such manual installations yourself, it is not necessary to have the skills of a metal structure assembler. However, in some cases you may need the help of a qualified professional. To make a homemade machine universal and multifunctional, it is enough to change the elements of the mold for making products. Then it will be possible to make bricks of different types and properties at home.

Preface from the author

Already at the age of 12, I dreamed of building a machine that would be capable of creating various things. A machine that will give me the ability to make any household item. Two years later I came across the phrase CNC

or, more precisely, the phrase
“CNC milling machine”
.
After I found out that there are people who can make such a machine on their own for their own needs, in their own garage, I realized that I could do it too. I must do it
! For three months I tried to collect suitable parts, but did not budge. So my obsession gradually faded.

In August 2013, the idea of ​​​​building a CNC milling machine captured me again. I had just graduated from a bachelor's degree in industrial design at university, so I was quite confident in my abilities. Now I clearly understood the difference between me today and me five years ago. I learned how to work with metal, mastered techniques for working with manual metalworking machines, but most importantly, I learned how to use development tools. I hope this tutorial inspires you to build your own CNC machine!

DIY brick machine

The easiest way to make bricks is by pressing. To do this, you should build a special press. The materials you will need are iron sheets with a thickness of 3-9 mm. From them you first need to cut out all the necessary parts to assemble the brick machine. Drawings will help a lot with this.

In addition to the pattern, you will need a drilling machine and welding equipment. You can cut and make holes in iron sheets by contacting the nearest metal workshop. It is quite possible to carry out welding work on your own site.

The main loads during operation of the machine will fall on the press, which is made from a pair of steel sheets 9-10 mm thick, rolled sheet metal. In total, the thickness of the pressing surface will be about 18-21 mm. This is quite enough to successfully use the machine for its intended purpose.

When all the elements are cut out, they need to be welded together according to the drawings. In addition, it is necessary to assemble the moving parts of the future machine according to the plan. When carrying out welding work, the thickness of the metal must be taken into account. In particular, choose the right electrode size. While working, do not forget to follow safety rules.

Financial plan

For the success of an enterprise, experience, competent employees, and high-quality raw materials are needed.

But the most important thing is to correctly understand and perform preliminary calculations

What are the financial prospects for the production of this type of product? Our expert suggests considering, first, a plan for opening a small line.

Investments for starting a business:

To start a business you will need 779,000 rubles.

Monthly expenses:

The average price of one unit of goods at retail is 14 rubles.

The output of finished products from purchased raw materials is 2,250 pcs/day. With 22 work shifts per month, production output will be 49,500 units.

Monthly revenue (excluding seasonal fluctuations) will be 49,500 * 14 = 693,000 rubles.

The tax under the simplified tax system “income-expenses” will be 15% (693,000 – 457,500) * 0.15 = 35,325 rubles.

If the company is organized according to the simplified tax system “income”, the deduction will be (6%) of 693,000 = 41,580 rubles.

Nikolay recommends regularly comparing the two simplified tax systems. With an increase in the expenditure part on the simplified tax system “income-expenses”.

With this option for business development, the profit will be 693,000 - 457,500 - 35,325 = 200,175 rubles / month.

The company will achieve payback (779,000 / 200,175 = 3.89) in 4 months.

The nuances of making bricks yourself

To start producing bricks, you need to do the following:

1. Purchase a set of special equipment (or make it yourself, using the method described above).
2. Learn the basics of the technological process.
3. Prepare the necessary areas for production, which are suitable for placing everything you need: equipment, storage of raw materials and finished products.
4. Matrices, racks, punches, pallets - these are all parts of one equipment. If a machine for making bricks is not built independently, but purchased in a specialized store, then usually a special remote control is provided to control all processes. If this is not available, then you will have to control all stages of production yourself.
5. The production process begins with loading the necessary components into the mixer. The homogeneous mass is fed to a conveyor belt, which moves it to the hopper. There, the mixture is unloaded into the matrix, where, under the influence of gravity created by vibration, it is evenly distributed. The product takes its final shape under the pressure of the punch and vibration.
6. The finished products are then loaded onto pallets. After which they are sent to steaming chambers. In them they gain up to 35% strength. The same properties can be achieved without a camera. Only in this case the product should lie for 24 hours at a temperature from +15 to +44 degrees. At a lower temperature, it will take two days for the brick to gain strength. Maximum strength can be obtained only in 28 days at a constant temperature of +20 degrees.
7. To speed up the production of the product, it is placed in a chamber where it is heated for about 8 hours at a temperature of +75 degrees. Under such conditions, bricks will reach their maximum strength much faster.
8. The key production step is the hyperpressing process. This technique, in turn, is based on the operating principle of cold welding. Thanks to a combination of factors such as high pressure, water and astringent components, a fairly durable product is obtained.
9. The main components of the mixture for making bricks are crushed limestone, cement and dyes. Many of the existing presses can only work with raw materials of a certain fraction.
10. The strength of the finished products depends on the compression force of the machine. The best installations today can create a pressure of up to 300 tons. For comparison, most hand presses have this figure of 2, maximum 3 tons. Therefore, we can conclude that the most important factor in the production of high-quality bricks is the press model used.

How to implement lego-kiprichi

The success of your sales depends on the quality of your advertising. This process also requires spending money, but the relationship here is directly proportional: the more money invested in the event, the more people will learn about your production.

You can promote your products in the following ways:

• use elements of outdoor advertising: notice boards, billboards, city lights, etc.;
• open your own online store;
• place advertisements and publications in construction newspapers and magazines;
• attend construction exhibitions and seminars.

This is the price of promoting your production and forming a customer base.