The steps of clay bricks manufacturing by Brick machinery (Step 2)
The Making Process
The next step is to make the material into the shape of the brick. There are three basic methods that can be
used to shape the material: handmade, machine molded or extruded. Each method imparts a different look to suit
the character of your home and your personal taste.
In the handmade method, a soft mixture is forced through an extruder, cut into slugs and conveyed to work
stations. The slugs are then individually picked up, rolled in sand and thrown into a pre-sanded wooden mold
by a worker. Excess raw material is removed by a wire and endless belt. As the filled mold boxes continue on
their journey, they are mechanically bumped on their ends to loosen the brick from the mold prior to dumping.
Machine molded brick are made from shale or clay material that is pugged or mixed with considerable water and
placed in a machine that presses the wet mix into molds previously sanded. The mold boxes are then bumped and
dumped. A variety of sands are used to keep the brick from sticking in the molds and to affect different
textures and colors of the final product.
The shale and clay materials for extruded brick are mixed with a moderate amount of water. This mixture is forced
by means of an auger through a die having the shape of the brick. Prior to entering the die, the material passes
through a vacuum changer that reduces the amount of air in the mix resulting in a denser, more homogeneous
product. It is here that core holes are placed in the column. The core holes are needed to reduce the mass for
firing and the weight for future handling. The column that is produced by the extruder is cut by wires to make
individual brick. Scratching, scraping, rolling or sanding the surface of the column as it exits the die produce
multiple textures on the face of the brick.