Hand Press Machine

Looks like he is making green sand molds for a foundry

It's pretty cool..I'd like to build or have one. You could make bricketts, bricks, sawdust logs, and pavers with this same principle of leverage. I like it because it is manual.

I think a device like that might be used to press spent (malted) brewers grain into bricks or logs to use as a fuel. Wet grain ought to stick together better than sawdust. Spent grain can be like oatmeal. Many microbrewers give the spent grain away, otherwise they may have to pay to dump it in a landfill. Maybe mix sawdust and spent brewers grain to form bricks. Searching for the elusive cheap biomass binder material...

It actually looks like he is making bricks that are interlocking.
Like leggo bricks.
The way the machine functions would be great for making briquettes.

Yes.. you might be right about the binder coming from brewery. I live in Minnesota and the soil around here doesn't have enough clay type material to make good bricks but if you go farther south, the soil is better for it if you dig down a couple feet. They mix straw, sometimes flour with water, and manure..stinks mixing it up and applying it but is really quite hard when it sets up. I also have seen masonary recepies for different types of building and construction using cement, gravel, sand, lime, additives, and water.

I know that this is an old thread but I just noticed it.

I have built one of those earth block presses myself. My build was very rough, made out of scrap materials but it did work. I later bought plans for a press that made two at a time. Had one of those made in Nicaragua and donated it for local use. I could probably find the plans if there is interest.

Concrete Plants

Making Bio Mass bricks to burn in any RS or other stove is a good Idea.
Just think of the amount of newsprint, cardboard and all sorts of other materials, we could be utilizing for burning in our stoves.

So Vesuvius, if you are willing to share , then yes I would like that also.
Cheers

Madd Macc

good deal maddmacc lets make some biomass bricks.