People have been using bricks for a very long time. The reason for this popularity is unique properties of this building material, as well as the simplicity of its manufacture. In an area with active sun in the summertime, it can be made in a handicraft way, at home. The brick obtained in this way is suitable for the construction of one-story structures intended for housing or for household needs.
Clay harvesting and testing
Not every locality has suitable clay, but often the raw materials for making bricks are located almost on the surface: it is enough to remove the sod layer. If such a deposit is located directly on your site, it is very convenient, and if not, you can use the clay deposits in a public quarry or purchase it in a commercial quarry.
The suitability of clay as a raw material must be verified. To do this, you need to take a soil sample at the site: when water is added, does it turn into reddish mud with an oily consistency? This means that this place is suitable for mining the clay you need. But you should also check the fat content of the raw materials - the quality of the resulting building material depends on this. For verification, you need to take samples in different places plot. A pound of earth is mixed with a little water. Stirring should be continued until the clay has completely absorbed all the water and begins to adhere to the skin. The "dough" obtained in this way is formed into a cake 10 cm in diameter and a ball with a diameter of about 5 cm. This procedure must be carried out with each sample and leave the obtained samples for a couple of days to dry on outdoors... If the samples are cracked during this time, this means that sand should be added to the alumina to reduce the fat content. If no cracks are observed and the ball dropped from a meter height remains intact, then the fat content of the raw material is within the normal range.
It is necessary to distinguish between skinny types of clay: they also do not crack, but they do not have sufficient strength either. To eliminate this disadvantage, it is necessary to add more fatty varieties to such clay, as well as sand. This must be done in several steps, each time checking the quality of the mixture. This must be continued until the required proportion is established, which is necessary to obtain quality products.
How to make raw brick and adobe
Not industrially You can make the following types of clay bricks: adobe (unbaked with chopped straw), raw and burnt red bricks.
Saman, when made from high-quality raw materials in compliance with the drying conditions, will in no way be inferior to ordinary fired brick. Buildings made of this material can last up to 70 years.
If the walls of the building are thick enough, then the adobe building will be comfortable both in summer and in winter.
For the manufacture of adobe, a container is assembled for mixing the components: two types of clay are used - lean and oily, to which straw is added in a ratio of 1: 1: 5. After that, a certain amount of water is added and the resulting mixture is carefully mixed with a shovel. The straw must first be chopped up: this helps to increase the strength of the adobe. Straw that has not been chopped up is not suitable as raw material. Ideal option the use of dried wheat stalks is considered.
To form a brick, make a tooling from boards and plywood. The standard brick shape is 250 × 120 × 65 mm. To improve adhesion to the mortar, special protrusions can be made in the lids, which form recesses in the brick. The parts of the equipment are connected with long nails, and the top cover must be removable. The number of templates should provide the expected performance.
After preparation of the solution, the tooling is filled. First, it must be moistened with water inside and sprinkle with fine sand, dust or cement: this is necessary to facilitate the removal of the formed product. When laying, the raw material is rammed so that the filling of the tooling is complete. Excess clay is removed with a spatula. After that, the top covers are installed, which are then removed. The formed bricks are removed from the mold after it has been turned over.
The picture shows an example of an adobe construction
Drying of bricks should take place under a canopy, on racks. During this process, the product is reduced in volume by about 15% (shrinkage occurs). It is recommended to shelter raw brick from direct sunlight, but ensure good ventilation. Drying time depends on humidity and air temperature as well as wind speed and varies from one to two weeks.
Due to the low water resistance of adobe bricks, additional protection of the walls from moisture should be provided. To do this, the edges of the overhangs are increased to at least 60 cm and the seams of the masonry are carefully tied, window and door openings are placed at least one and a half meters from the corners. But the best way is the outside wall cladding with any moisture-resistant material or a layer of plaster is applied to them.
Raw bricks without straw are made in the same way as adobe, with the only difference that instead of straw, a small amount of pure quartz sand fine fraction in a ratio of 1: 5.
This is not an easy task, but it is still possible to make a small batch of fired bricks in a handicraft way. The whole process is divided into three parts: heating, direct firing and cooling.
Raw firing can be performed in a simple metal barrel with a volume of about 250 liters. You need to cut out the top and bottom bottoms and install on a metal oven without a top. A raw brick is laid inside the barrel and fired.
Another method of roasting is with a fire. You should dig a hole half a meter deep and set the barrel on low legs (about 20 cm). This is necessary for uniform heating. The raw brick is placed in a column inside the barrel at small intervals. The filled drum must be closed with a lid to prevent cold air from entering. You need to maintain a fire for about 20 hours: it depends on the quality of the clay and is chosen experimentally.
During the drying process, under the influence of high temperature, the clay is sintered - it turns into ceramic.
The brick cooling process must be controlled: this can be done by gradually reducing the amount of fuel supplied. The barrel must remain closed at all times. A sharp temperature drop leads to cracking of the brick. The barrel can be opened only 5 ... 6 hours after the brick has completely cooled down.
Brick as a building material has been known to mankind for a long time. A few thousand years ago, they learned how to make it without high-tech machines and equipment. These simple old technologies allow you to organize the production of bricks at home. The raw material for this is ordinary clay and a few additives. Finished products can be baked at high temperatures to obtain a durable material, or they can simply be dried in the sun. Any structures can be built from such material, from utility rooms to residential buildings. If you want to know more about history, then wikipedia can help you with this issue or the history forum.
- Brick making technology
- Unfired brick
- Red brick
The characteristics of the finished product depend primarily on the quality of the raw materials. Common clay is used for production. She, however, is also of different quality. Clay is suitable for making the material, which becomes oily when water is added to it. There are well-known methods of testing clay for a long time. Samples are taken from different sites. They make a cake and a small ball. All samples air dry naturally. High-quality raw materials are those that will not crack in the form of a cake and will not crack when dropped to the ground from a height of 1 m.
Brick making technology
Unfired brick
The most simple technology Is the manufacture of unbaked material. These include raw brick and adobe. Adobe bricks, when properly manufactured and dried, are not inferior in characteristics to fired products. It is often used in buildings in the southern regions, since the temperature in an adobe building is always approximately the same.
To make adobe brick you need a container. His sides should be low so that it is convenient to mix. A mixture of one part clay, one part water and five parts straw should be loaded into the container. The last component must be thoroughly grinded. The dimensions of the straw affect the strength of the future building material. Wheat straw works best. Then everything mixes well.
Production of adobe bricks.
Even before the start of manufacturing, wooden forms are prepared according to the size of standard bricks. This will require boards and plywood. The thickness of the timber should be 2.5 cm. Than more forms it turns out to be made, the more efficient the production will be.
- Prepared forms are filled with the solution. Before this, the inner surfaces are moistened with water and sprinkled with cement. This simplifies the removal of products from the forms. During filling, the forms are shaken well so that the solution evenly fills the entire interior. The rest of the solution is removed and the form is covered with a lid. For a while, the forms are left to solidify.
- The best drying method is naturally... Products are stacked on shelves, equipped under a canopy. It is not recommended to leave them under the open sun. Drying can take from one to two weeks, depending on the air temperature. The water from the solution evaporates and the dry particles stick together. In this case, the material shrinks by about 15%.
The adobe brick is not very moisture resistant, therefore, after laying it is protected by plastering the outside of the building or laid with siding.
Raw brick is a raw clay building material in which sand is used instead of straw. For its production, they also use wooden forms - cabbages. Usually they are made double. In order for all products to have the same shape and have identical properties, it is important to correctly calculate the amount of sand and determine the fat content of the clay. The smaller it is, the more the product shrinks when it dries. Today, when determining these parameters, a special table technology is used.
The compressibility of the clay is usually determined empirically. A cube is molded from the solution, with sides of 20 cm, diagonals are pressed on the sides, 10 mm deep. The prototype dries naturally. Then the depth of the dried grooves is measured. Every millimeter equals 1% compressibility. An indicator from 5 to 10 indicates that such raw materials are suitable for making high-quality raw bricks. It is important to note that if the percentage of shrinkage is less than 5, then such clay will make the material brittle.
Red brick
The production of red bricks (fired) is much more difficult. It is beneficial to do this at home if you need a small batch for your own needs. The main and most important operation in the whole process is firing. It consists of several stages:
- heating of workpieces;
- holding at high temperature;
- cooling.
To obtain a high-quality brick from clay, you need to observe the temperature and time regime at all stages of the process. Drying takes place at a temperature of 150 degrees. A rapid increase in it can lead to the destruction of the product, since a large amount of steam is released. This should be done gradually. Clay transforms into a new, ceramic state at temperatures from +800 to +1200 degrees, depending on the properties of the primary raw materials. There are concepts of fusible and refractory clays.
How much does facing brick cost? The wholesale price, depending on the region, is from 11 rubles per piece.
Cooling takes place by gradually lowering the temperature in the oven. Very slowly at first, but faster when the temperature reaches +650 degrees. The whole process will take about 5-6 hours. You can take out the products only after they have completely cooled down. If cold air enters the oven before this, the items will become brittle and crack.
The resulting products must be checked for strength before laying. Break the prototype into two parts, examine it visually and soak it in water for a while. After that, it should not crumble, be uniform in color and throughout the structure. If so, then your product is of high quality, and you can think about the scale of your brick production and entering the market in this niche of small business.
Brick is an excellent building material that has been used for several millennia. It is a stone of the correct geometric shape, obtained by firing or non-firing method. In this case, various types of clay and its mixtures are used. The result of the high-temperature regime during firing is the red color of the product. Environmentally friendly material can be useful when building your own cottage, country house, garages, outbuildings, fences with original arches for the entry of cars, baths, stoves, barbecues, etc.
In connection with the growth of private and suburban construction, it has become popular with your own hands, since it does not imply special material costs.
In order to manufacture such products, it is necessary to carry out work in several stages. They include the extraction of clay in the quarry, the preparation of clay dough, the formation of molds, their filling, drying of the workpieces. Let's consider each stage in detail.
Extraction of raw materials in a quarry
For the manufacture of 1000 pieces of bricks, approximately 2.5 cubic meters of raw materials are needed. The tools used are brush cutters, picks, crowbars, bayonet and shovels, forks with frequent teeth, wheelbarrows for transporting raw materials to the storage site. The deposit is chosen not far from the place where the brick is supposed to be made. It is best to do this in a dry place that is not subject to flooding. atmospheric precipitation, ground and snow waters.
Preparatory work involves the removal of all unsuitable cover for production. Clearing overgrown bushes and small trees areas are produced by means of brush cutters. After that, they are engaged in the arrangement of access roads. For convenient extraction and export of raw materials, they dig a trench. Over time, it is deepened to the base of the developed layer, providing a convenient entry into the quarry.
Dense and frozen layers are mined with picks and crowbars. Loose interlayers more acceptable for extraction are made with pointed or semicircular bayonet shovels. The extracted material is immersed on wheelbarrows with the help of shovels, and if it sticks to the shovel, a pitchfork with frequent teeth is used. The wheelbarrow can be transported to the place of storage of raw materials on a flat surface, which is formed with the help of boards laid on the ground. The material is laid in a conical manner, the height should not exceed 1 m. It is best to form several similar heaps with an average base diameter of 1-1.5 m.
Making clay dough
The clay brought from the quarry is heterogeneous in its structure. It can be oily and non-greasy. To receive quality bricks raw materials must be prepared and tested. During preparatory operations, stones and other inclusions are removed from it. The most unsuitable are lumps of limestone. In the process of firing, if necessary, they turn into lime-boiling water. When water gets on it, lime begins to extinguish, forming defects on the products. The prepared material is checked for fat content. For a sample, take as much raw material as is placed in a half-liter jar, place it in a bowl, add a small amount of water. Then do the dough warm-up by hand.
When the clay has absorbed all the water and begins to stick to your hands, the dough is ready. Having received a thick dough, a ball of 40-50 mm and a cake of 100 mm in diameter are rolled out of it. Such actions are performed for each sample of raw materials. The balls and cakes are dried for 2-3 days. If, as a result, cracks appear on the cakes, then the clay is too oily and the composition needs to be adjusted. In the case when cracks did not appear, and a clay ball thrown from a height of 1 m did not crumble or crack, the fat content of the clay can be considered optimal.
A dried clay ball is one way to determine the optimal structure of a clay dough.
It should be noted that the thrown balls of oily clay will crack when dropped. If it is not greasy, the balls will crumble. In this case, the fat content should be corrected by mixing both types together or add sand to each type in several stages, each time checking the quality of the clay. Such work is performed until the time when the desired proportion and normal structure of the raw material is obtained. The optimal structure of the clay dough is the main component of how to make good quality bricks at home.
Making molds for drying
The necessary material is boards 20-25 mm thick and plywood sheets. Boards are laid on a sheet of plywood and strengthened in such a way that many cells of the same size are obtained. Based on the fact that the raw material shrinks up to 15% during drying, the molds should have dimensions larger than the standard dimensions of products (250 × 120 × 65 mm) by 15%. Fixture parts are fixed with long nails. For better adhesion of the clay dough to the molds, conical protrusions are provided in them, creating voids in the bricks. The protrusions are best done in plywood, which will serve as a removable cover. Note that performance depends on the number of forms.
The inner surface of the molds is pre-moistened with water, sprinkled with cement in order to facilitate the process of removing blank bricks. Clay dough with a moisture content of 20-25% is distributed into the cells and shaken. This allows the clay to fill the corners of the molds. Surplus is removed with metal plates. After the form is closed with a lid. After a while, it opens. The blanks are removed from the molds and placed on racks to air dry.
Unloading semi-finished products from molds
During the drying process, moisture from the semi-finished products moves from the inner layers to the outer ones, it evaporates from the surface. Surface tension forces expand the outer clay layers and contract the inner ones. The natural drying process is carried out under a canopy. Semi-finished products are unloaded onto a rack or a leveled soil surface, after having filled in a 1-2 cm thick bedding layer of dry sand and straw.
The purpose of the underlying layer is to prevent the blanks from sticking to the plane, to ensure their uniform drying on the lower plane and the ability to conveniently shift, move the semi-finished products if necessary. V climatic zones in temperate climates, drying in the open air can be used. In case of precipitation, they are stocked with a removable waterproof film. The drying process takes 8-10 days. This evaporates approximately 80-85% of the moisture contained in the workpiece. And the remaining 15% is removed during firing.
After the end of the drying process, the resulting raw brick is removed from their forms and masonry work is started. It is necessary to make a reservation that raw brick is not used for facing work, but only for internal ones. It should be remembered that the product has a low water resistance.
The walls that are erected from it must be protected from moisture. For this purpose, it is necessary to carefully tie the seams in the masonry. Door and window openings are provided at a distance of 1.5 m from the corner of the room. The overhang of the roof, which forms a canopy over the walls and protects them from getting wet during precipitation, must have a length of at least 600 mm. When the wall, erected from raw brick, is completely dry, it must be faced with siding or red fired brick with beautiful smooth surfaces.
Cladding bricks are made in intermittent kilns by firing. The firing technology takes place in a floor-standing intermittent or temporary kiln in several stages.
Batch furnace device
The site for the furnace is selected, if possible, in an elevated place, inaccessible to sedimentary and groundwater... It is cleaned of the vegetation layer, after which they are engaged in horizontal planning and tamping. The smallest furnace has a capacity of 1500 pcs. finished products. Its width - 1.6 m, length - 2 m, stacking height - from 160 to 185 cm. The walls of the furnace are erected from raw bricks one brick thick.
The overlap is built on metal frame if each row of vault bricks lies on two steel strips or rods, which are mounted by welding, forming a frame. Above the laying of bricks, the vault in the middle should have a height of at least 35 cm. The firebox or hearth is a through corridor 50 cm wide and 40 cm high. Along its entire length, steps are made at a height of 25 cm on both walls. Then the grains are placed there with coal fuel.
When using firewood as fuel, the grates do not need to be installed. Also, a small square door 40 × 40 cm is provided in the firebox. The vault is equipped with smoke channels with a cross section of 25 × 28 cm. For low-calorie fuel (peat, brown coal), holes 25 × 15 cm are provided with lids serving for fuel supply. The brick chimney is erected up to 5 m in height with an internal section of 40 × 40 cm.
It is installed near the stove, behind it, connected to the smoke channel. It is located in the back wall. In the middle of the wall, holes are left for viewing, they are subsequently laid with bricks, covered with clay. For laying side and rear walls, vaults, pipes, corners of the front wall use traditional clay-sand mortar. Without mortar, a part of the front wall is laid, which will be disassembled for cutting the cage.
Firing raw bricks in a kiln
After bricking, the wall is coated with clay. Well dried raw is placed in the oven. The laying process is carried out so that in the first three rows the gaps between them are 15 mm. This applies to semi-finished products located at the very combustion chamber. As you move away from it, the gaps are increased to 25 mm. The rows are laid with a "lattice", "herringbone", the methods can be applied alternately. The only condition is that every raw material placed in the oven is completely covered with flue gases. A distance of up to 25 mm is provided between the cage bricks and the furnace walls. After the workpieces are laid, the process of firing them begins. The stove is heated with straw, brushwood, wood.
The first stage of firing is the most important. The workpieces are dried, it is necessary to heat it moderately, using low-calorie fuel. When the internal moisture has been removed from the product, drying is finished. The amount of moisture is determined by the condensate in the upper rows. Drying usually takes 10-12 hours. After deleting internal moisture start the heating process, heat the stove more intensively. The brick gradually takes on a dark red color. Heating duration - up to 9 hours.
After that, they begin to heat so that the fire goes out, increasing the fuel supply. When a flame is shown at the top of the stove, the lower rows take on a yellow shade and the upper ones a dull red. The oven is left to cool. In this case, the firebox is laid with a brick, coated with clay, the upper part is sprinkled with dry earth or brick dust with a layer of 10-15 cm. After 6 hours, the firebox door is opened to ventilate and completely cool the furnace. When the furnace has cooled down, its front wall is disassembled, the cage is cut, starting from the upper rows. After removal of the finished product, it is sorted. Quality bricks are stacked. Products that have not completely passed the firing process are used in structures with the lowest bearing load.
Diagram of a multi-furnace furnace and shrinkage of raw brick for
roasting with coal.
The advantage of making bricks at home is that it does not require high costs for modern facilities mechanization, but only available materials and tools are used. The result of all the work is a beautiful high quality brick.
Do-it-yourself bricks are mainly made in small volumes for their own needs. Common clay or refractory is used in the construction of small facilities. For production, the solution is kneaded, laid out in molds and dried. To give the necessary strength, they are fired in a special oven.
More often, material is required for interior decoration. Decorative, facing, created according to a simple technology from plaster, cement, as well as its imitation with the use of drywall, paper, is used.
Types of bricks and their features
All products have standard dimensions 65 × 120 × 250 mm, 88 × 120 × 250 mm or less, but multiples in all parameters. Building bricks are made from low-melting clay, in the finished state it has a small porosity to reduce thermal conductivity and adhesion to the mortar.
It is fired well in an oven at 900–1100 °. Underdried has scarlet color, poor performance: insufficient strength, low water resistance, tolerates frost unsatisfactorily. Burnt (iron ore) usually with curved shapes, high thermal conductivity. In construction, high-quality bricks are used for laying walls, chimneys, stoves, except for the furnace zone.
They use fireproof, which is able to withstand high temperatures. It is made by firing clay with chamotte, but it is impossible to make it at home - it takes 1500 °. If the brick is overexposed, it becomes covered with a shell similar to glass. Its quality is easily recognized by outward appearance- sandy yellow color, grainy. On impact, it shatters into large pieces, and the unburned one crumbles into small pieces. You cannot use it for laying fireboxes, chimneys - it does not retain heat and can collapse.
The apartment is decorated with decorative bricks and has an original design. Products have different parameters and surface structure, rectangular shape and slightly rounded edges, a wide variety of colors. The wizard will help you choose the most suitable options for the interior. The types differ in production technology and material:
The advantages of decorative products include a long service life, light weight, resistance to abrasion, water and fire. Has some color imperfections if low-quality materials are used. Due to the convex surface, the volume of the room visually decreases.
The main advantage of facing bricks is its beauty. At the same time, it is durable, resistant to impact atmospheric phenomena, successfully used for internal and external works... The variety of shades is striking - you can choose a color to taste. Sizes vary, which allows you to embody any idea. The wall takes on a unique design.
The industry produces several types that differ in the front surface and quality:
- glazed - has a special layer that gives volume;
- ceramic - with its help, patterns are created;
- clinker - less aesthetic, but with increased wear resistance and strength;
- hyper-pressed - consists only of limestone and cement, does not contain clay.
The production of the latter is carried out without firing, but under high pressure... Poor heat retention, used indoors.
Making at home
The technology for the production of building material from clay has been known for centuries. You do not need machinery and equipment, the skills of a highly qualified specialist. Proven methods and new techniques are used to obtain high quality products at minimal cost.
To give the brick strength, it is fired in a kiln. If a lot is required, a capital structure is built; with small volumes, even metal barrel... Modern additives improve quality characteristics: thermal insulation properties, resistance to frost, moisture, cracking.
Preparation of raw materials
Not all clay is suitable for making bricks. Only high-quality is used, in which there are no pebbles, pebbles, earth, white inclusions. Strength, durability, resistance to low temperatures and water depend on this. It is pre-checked for fat content. A small amount is soaked, and when the material becomes homogeneous, a ball with an approximate diameter of 5 cm is rolled.
It is left in the shade to dry well, then testing begins. If you burst - the clay is oily, you should add 5 parts of fine river sand to it. But this is an approximate dosage, you will have to experiment to achieve a high-quality composition.
Cracks may or may not form. Then they take the ball and release it into free fall from a meter height onto a hard surface. If it survived after the impact, the strength is high, suitable for bricks. When it breaks, the mixture is diluted with a fatty composition. It or sand is covered in small portions, checked each time until the desired composition is achieved.
Great ductility makes fabrication easier. To achieve this state, the crushed raw materials are placed in a wide box, water is added in several steps, thoroughly mixing everything. Leave in this form for at least three days, until the composition becomes uniform. Cover the container with a damp cloth or film.
Forming products
The ready-made solution is placed in wooden or metal boxes. They are calculated for one brick or more. The inside is necessarily a smooth surface. Before filling, grease with oil or use whitewash (water with chalk). Forms can be collapsible or solid, as shown in the figures.
Filling containers with clay, take into account that it dries up, and then during firing, decreases in size. Therefore, each side is increased by 10 mm. For convenience, the box is made without a bottom and with removable sides. It can be made counting on one solid workpiece, which is then cut into pieces with a string or a metal plate dipped in water.
Fine sifted river sand or a little sawdust is poured onto the moistened sides and bottom. The prepared mass is laid, tamped. In the process of shrinking, add clay until it is level with the edges. The excess is cut off with a metal or wood strip, a large spatula. Smooth the surface and remove the box. For 1–2 hours, the product is left to dry out. Readiness is determined by finger pressure - no traces should remain. Rejected copies are allowed to be recycled.
To make a brick with your own hands in large quantities, you should take care of the fixtures. A home-made screw press, where a jack is used for the drive, will make the work easier. Hot water for solution preparation accelerates the primary drying.
How to dry properly
In many ways, the quality depends on how the moisture leaves. The more evenly and longer the process lasts, the stronger the material comes out. If the temperature is not constant, overheating is allowed, then cooling, cracks and deformation appear. Typically, the formed blanks are placed under a canopy.
In open areas, the top and sides are covered with a cloth to protect from sunlight at noon, and in case of rain - with a film. Remember to shoot when the weather is moderate and there is no rain. They make sure that the base is not wet - even on dry ground, a film is spread or boards are laid, and already raw on top.
The material laid out in one layer dries faster, but requires a lot of space. Therefore, they make vertical packages of 6-8 rows, each sprinkled with sawdust or sand. Lay loose, leave small space to allow air to pass through. When the bricks dry out from below, they are built up freshly made. Taking into account the fact that the process is faster from above, the readiness of all products will come at about the same time. The outside temperature must be at least 10 °.
If the clay brick is simply dried without firing, it will be raw. It has a faint brown color. In terms of performance, it almost does not differ from red, but it is more prone to deformation and less durable. If you use high-quality raw materials, dry well, the characteristics are practically comparable.
The duration of the process depends on the weather. At normal temperatures, without excessive moisture, a brick of small standard sizes dries up in 10-15 days. Readiness is determined by testing. Take one raw from the middle and break it in half. If there is no dark spot, which indicates humidity, the required quality.
Firing technology
If a person is engaged in the manufacture of building bricks for the first time, then he does not have a special furnace. If something like that is not planned in the future, it makes no sense to build it. A metal container for 200 liters is used, holes are made in the bottom.
They choose a site where there are no communications located underground. They dig a hole with a slightly smaller diameter, 0.5 m deep. Stones 20 cm high are placed on the sides, with a barrel on top of them. The raw material is placed inside - 35–40 pieces are included. Lay with gaps, close on top.
A fire is made under the container. The firing process is long and tedious, lasting 20 hours. They start early in the morning, keep the temperature high by adding fuel. When the necessary time has passed, they are left to burn out. It is impossible to extinguish so that the barrel cools down slowly, otherwise the caked clay will crack.
Better firing is obtained if you use a homemade kiln, the design of which is shown in the figure below.
Brick properties are determined by many process factors:
- the temperature rise time and its final indicators;
- exposure at the achieved parameters;
- cooling rate.
They begin to build the furnace from a foundation 0.5 m deep and 0.6 m wide. Then they lay out vertical walls half a meter thick. After reaching ⅔ of the height, they are gradually narrowed, forming a chimney, on which a pipe is placed to improve draft. Fired brick or raw brick is used. To make the structure easy to disassemble, when the need is gone, the masonry is performed on a lean mortar. A 10-centimeter layer of crumbs or small crushed stone is poured under the oven.
An opening for loading is provided, which then serves as a firebox. A well-fitted lid or door is installed on it. All walls outside are coated with a thick layer of clay. After laying the raw material, the fuel is set on fire. At first, only 150 ° is required, it should not be increased sharply - a lot of steam collects, which threatens to be destroyed. They use low-grade firewood.
After 48 hours, the temperature is gradually raised to 1000 °, maintained for up to four days. The flame should be light orange. When the heating is stopped, the cracks that have appeared on the walls are closed, and left until completely cooled. The quality of the bricks is checked by breaking one of them. Well-fired has a uniform color and texture. If you fill it with water for several hours, initial appearance shouldn't change.
How to make decorative bricks
A very popular material has noticeably replaced traditional wallpaper. Many are stopped by its cost, but you can do it yourself using available raw materials. You will need gypsum or Portland cement, options from drywall or even paper are known.
Requires forms that are commercially available but expensive. At home, they can be made from thick cardboard. Glue the box over standard sizes 250 × 65 mm, 0.5–3 cm high. To prevent the walls from spreading, they are wrapped in a wire mesh. Something embossed is laid on the bottom, otherwise the front surface will come out flat. A good matrix is obtained from liquid polyurethane, with the help of which it is possible to establish large-scale production.
Three options - gypsum, cement with foam, papier-mâché
The quality is almost 100% dependent on raw materials. The best result is obtained with the use of G-16 brand gypsum. You can use G-5 or G-10, but plasticizers and fiber should be added to it.
The mold is sprayed with soapy water and allowed to dry so that the products fly out of it. In the meantime, prepare a solution: add 600 ml of water to 750 ml of gypsum and mix thoroughly. If there is no mixer - hand in rubber gloves, crush all the lumps. This is done quickly so that the composition does not grab. Then it is poured into matrices, smoothed with a spatula.
After half an hour, take out, fold. Natural drying takes a long time, especially if the temperature is low and the humidity is high. An ordinary oven will help out, which is set to 50 °. After a few hours, the surface will turn white, which indicates the complete readiness of the product.
Second original and simple way:
- foam balls are poured into the container;
- in another bowl, mix white cement and fine sand in a 3: 1 ratio;
- water is added little by little to make the mixture creamy;
- balls are poured with it, mixed, poured into molds.
If they have a flat bottom, they do not wait until completely dry, but are taken out and processed with wood carving tools. It should be kept within one day. With this method, each product acquires original view, because the same ones are practically not obtained when hand-finished.
Simple instruction will help to make decorative paper bricks:
- 1. Tear cardboard and pour boiling water, periodically adding it, as the water is strongly absorbed. The cooled mass is crushed with a mixer, excess moisture is squeezed out through a mesh. They sort out the lumps, removing too small ones, otherwise you will get a flat surface.
- 2. A paste is boiled from starch, which is poured into paper pebbles. Take a little to just dampen. Add bustilate, mix everything and get a dough for bricks.
- 3. Send the mass into molds, pre-covered with polyethylene, so that it is convenient to take it out after drying. The recommended thickness is about one centimeter.
It remains to give the desired color. For this, acrylic dyes are used, strongly diluted with water. They cover the front surface 2-3 times. Finally, after complete drying, a colorless varnish is applied.
Imitation brickwork
Sometimes there is no desire to tinker with solutions and forms, but I really want to give the room original design... The manufacture of false walls will help out, for which drywall is used. Cells of the desired size are applied to the sheet, cut along the lines, then individual parts are processed.
GCR does not have the required texture. To give it the appearance of a decorative brick, any plaster with good adhesion is used, such as isogypsum. The mixture is diluted with water to the desired consistency until it becomes plastic. Then put it on the blanks with a spatula and give the desired relief. Dry for a day or two, then process the edges. They are painted and after a few hours they are glued to the wall.
If the finish is imitation facing brick, the second layer is not applied. Instead, use acrylic paints, which are gently sprayed on several times. Care must be taken to ensure that the paper does not peel - it is recommended to use a waterproof material. At the end, a transparent varnish is applied, which will add shine.
Simulation cardboard is a very economical option. They take boxes, disassemble and cut into rectangles. The wall is marked out, a blank is glued to each cell. When it dries up, they begin to apply the relief. Use paper napkins, knead them well with your hands. Then they are connected with fake bricks on glue for heavy wallpaper. Immediately apply the same composition from above, form many folds and leave to dry.
Acrylic paints are used for decoration. The first layer is undiluted, then tinted with strongly diluted water. Secure with matte varnish.
These are far from all brick making technologies. Other materials can be used, for example plastic panels. Various ways it is permissible to combine, choosing the most suitable at each stage.
Business idea: production of bricks at home, how to open a mini workshop?
Where we do business from: private house, workshop, rented premises
Main costs: purchase of equipment for production, purchase of materials, electricity
Required equipment: brick making machine, molds
Consumables: sand, cement, water, dyes
Initial capital: from 200,000 rubles. up to 1,500,000 rubles.
Payback period: from 6 to 18 months
Possible profit: from 35,000 rubles. up to 200,000 rubles.
Brick is a unique material that combines high strength and good heat and sound insulation characteristics. What's more, it is also easy to operate and maintain, environmentally friendly, fire-resistant, earthquake-resistant, durable, and non-shrinking. All buildings that are made of bricks do not need any special maintenance and control.
Payback of a mini brick production plant
Practice has shown that a mini brick production plant will be able to pay off in a few years. Accordingly, this business is highly profitable and promising. Because this option Doing business does not require the installation of treatment facilities, then it will be possible to organize production in any industrial premises. The purchase of equipment is accompanied by the provision of design estimates, service maintenance and commissioning, and personnel training is also carried out.
Equipment for self-production of bricks.
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Brick Making Equipment
With the help of a universal, mobile, automatic semi-dry pressing press, you can produce brick products from any type of clay, as well as from screenings, flour, shellfish, waste from brick factories.
The press includes an automatic revolving table, divided into 3 sections: 1. loading 2. molding 3. outlet.
The device is very efficient in work. This equipment can be used in field conditions... With its help, silicate, facing, colored brick is produced, which is later given the texture of a torn stone. Our market offers a huge selection of equipment for the production of bricks on different cost... An inexpensive option is mechanical machine, which allows the production of bricks in three standard sizes. The principle of its operation is based on the compression of the working mixture (clay, screening out, cement) in a special matrix-form by hand pressing. The machine contains a dosing device and a hopper that allows loading. It should be noted that the machine is easy to operate, it can work without electricity, which is very important.
Another popular type of equipment is the "hippress". The hyperpress is equipped with a standard die designed for the production of more than 30 brick positions, and facing tiles... It is important that the production of hyper-pressed bricks is more economical and cost-effective.
Mini brick production line.
Brick making machine.
The set of equipment includes molds for the production of bricks.
Brick production technology.
Before starting a business, you need to choose and study the production technology. It should be borne in mind that the use of traditional technologies which involve the production of bricks by plastic molding can only be profitable if it covers about 30 million pieces per year. Indeed, in such a project it is necessary to invest at least 1 billion rubles.
Another, more affordable brick production technology is hyper pressing. The material that is made in accordance with this technology is very widespread and used, and also has good quality characteristics. In addition, the degree of its frost resistance and strength is several times higher than that of its “traditional counterparts”.
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Brick production is carried out using waste from such industries as mining, asbestos, cement, metallurgical.
The next step is drying the bricks. This process is very responsible and difficult. If you use a mini brick factory for this purpose, then the cost of finished high-quality bricks will not be too high, since the amount of defective products will be small. In the process of moisture evaporation, the particles in the workpiece will converge as surface tension, which will reduce the volume of the brick. Shrinkage continues until reaching 15% of the indicator. After that, a decrease in volumes is noted, although the physically bound liquid still does not completely evaporate. To improve the quality of the drying process, you need to use an equipped shelving with a canopy. Moreover, it is necessary to ensure that the bricks are well ventilated and that they are not exposed to direct sunlight. The duration of the drying process is influenced by temperature, humidity, as well as the mobility of the outside air. As a rule, this process takes from 6 to 15 days. It is worth noting that such a raw brick has a rather low water resistance, therefore, the walls of a building erected from such a brick must be protected from moisture.
Financial plan.
The profitability of brick production.
Staff
To operate the machines, you will need three people, whose duties will include monitoring the operation of the machines, filling the mixer with raw materials, and receiving finished bricks. It is worth noting that modern mini brick factories are very safe and practically harmless. In order to fully staff the plant's staff, do not forget about a warehouse worker who will be responsible for keeping records of raw materials and finished products.
You may also need a truck driver.
It is not worth hiring an accountant for a permanent job, thanks to changes in legislation, representatives of small businesses must submit reports every three months, so it will be enough for you to use the services of such a professional once every three months.
You will also need a cleaning lady and a caretaker.
Sales issues
The most important thing in this business is sales. Please note that if the brick production line is idle, you will lose a lot of money. Therefore, you must take care of the smooth marketing of bricks. The main consumers of bricks, as a rule, are construction sites, but after all, most of them already have signed contracts with factories, so concluding a contract with them can be very troublesome business... Another active consumer of bricks is the private sector. This is the area that should help your company at the first stage. If you make quality products, then you will very soon gain high popularity.
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