My brick presses

I have taken my idea from the internet. A brick press named the CINVA ram has been made for many years for poorer countries to help locals make their own bricks. I took this concept and started working on my press.

I had an old 20 ton bottle jack and had an idea that I could make myself a press using it as the force of compression.

These are my first results. Even though they were pressed pretty hard, It needed some refinement

The hydraulic jack press worked, but was slow and hard to load the clay mix into. I went back to start over and make a press closer to the original CINVA ram design.

Success! I have made a strong brick now. After it is pressed it needs to be set aside for about 7 days to cure out. It has a small percentage of cement in its mix to help it harden out more and have some level of waterproofing. During the 7 days, water should be sprayed daily onto the bricks to help with the curing out process. After that they can be allowed to finish drying out.

I decided to make a third press. This one was to recreate the brick I made with the first hydraulic press, but using the CINVA ram lever method of compression intead.

When I get more pictures ready I will show you some of the results of the new press.