Some time ago, cinder blocks could only be produced at industrial enterprises. To date, the development of technology has led to the fact that such raw materials can be created independently. Making cinder blocks with your own hands is quite simple.
Concrete Block Overview
Immediately it is worth starting with the fact that the size of this material is standardized. Dimensions are 188 x 190 x 390 mm. In addition, each block has holes, the number of which is most often 3. In order to produce high-quality cinder blocks with your own hands, you must use cement no lower than the M400 grade. Blast furnace slag and coarse sand are also used. Quite often, various additives and plasticizers are used to improve performance.
Two methods are used to successfully prepare the material. Cooking takes place either manually or with the help of equipment with the function of vibrocompression. It is worth noting that one bag of cement is enough for about 36 do-it-yourself cinder blocks. In terms of cost savings, the benefitquite obvious.
Preparing the solution
As for the composition, there is no specific recipe. Each master uses his composition. It mainly depends on the quality and properties of the slag that is used as feedstock. There are certain general recommendations and standard factory recipes used in industrial plants.
The composition of the cinder block mixture in this case is as follows:
- 7 servings of slag;
- 2 pieces of sand;
- 1, 5 servings of cement;
- 1.5 to 3 servings of water.
One more piece of advice. Those dimensions of the material that were given earlier are the factory ones. In private construction and production, it is much more convenient if the final product measures 400 x 200 x 200 mm.
If you return to the composition, then you need to add that in addition to slag, you can also use ash, sawdust, gypsum, broken bricks, etc. In addition, in order to increase such cinder block indicators as water resistance, frost resistance and strength, it is recommended to add special plasticizers for concrete. Only 5 g of this substance is enough for a whole concrete block.
As for determining the optimal amount of water for the solution, it should be such that after the end of the cinder block formation process, it does not blur. Determining the ratio is pretty easy. A handful of the finished and solidified solution is thrown onto the ground or any other flat surface. If aafter the piece broke, it was possible to assemble it back by simply squeezing the hands, then the consistency was chosen correctly. If the solution spreads, then you need to reduce the amount of water.
Form preparation
If everything is already clear with what the cinder block is made of, then further attention should be paid to preparing the form. Without this element, it will not be possible to independently produce such raw materials. The dimensions of the form, as mentioned earlier for private construction, are 40 x 20 x 20 cm. If there is a need or desire, then the dimensions of the form can be adjusted independently. Do-it-yourself cinder block mold can be assembled from sheet metal or from boards. The design of this part is the simplest - walls and bottom. Naturally, the height, length and distance between the walls will determine the dimensions for the finished product.
Here it is worth adding that you can make molds with cells for the simultaneous production of several blocks at once. All that is needed for this is to increase the length and width of the edges of the form, and install partitions between them. Another important point is the voids that are in the cinder block. It is quite easy to create them with your own hands using ordinary glass bottles, and therefore it is worth having them on hand.
Filling the form manually
In order to successfully prepare a concrete block, you must follow the simple instructions below.
Firstly, the solution is poured evenly into the mold to the very edges. Secondly, bottles are placed in an already filled form. The neck shouldbe directed upward. After the bottle is placed in the mold, it will most likely be necessary to smooth the surface of the solution in the mold again, as well as remove the excess. Next, you need to wait about 5 hours, after which the glass container can be removed. The blocks themselves are left inside the mold for another knock. After this period, they can be removed from the mold and stacked on a horizontal surface.
In this state, they should stand for another month. Only after this period they will be suitable for construction. Thus, the production of cinder blocks at home without a machine is carried out.
Machine for work
Naturally, if a machine is available on the farm, it will be possible to increase not only the quality, but also the productivity of production many times over, when compared with the manual method. It is worth saying that the design of this device is considered quite simple and you can even assemble it yourself. That is, if you need to launch a large-scale production of cinder blocks with your own hands, then you need to start with the assembly of the machine.
Assembly Tools
The most important element of the whole machine is the form or matrix for cinder concrete mortar. The design of the matrix is a metal box with delimiters of the desired shape that will create voids. By the way, these objects can be either removable or molded along with the mold.
In order to successfully make a cinder block machine, you needhave the following tools:
- welding machine;
- locksmith tools;
- grinder;
- vices;
- need sheet steel with a thickness of 3 mm about 1 m2;
- you will need a pipe with a diameter of 7.5 to 9 cm to choose from and 1 m in length;
- it will take about 30 cm of metal strip with a thickness of 3 mm;
- electric motor with power from 0.5 to 0.75kw;
- nuts and bolts for fixing.
Instructions for making the design
The first step in assembling a cinder block machine is making a mold. Here, as in the manual version, everyone chooses the sizes individually. The process itself looks like this. Side walls are cut from sheet steel into 2 blocks at once. To separate the form into two parts, you will need a steel partition.
The second step is to determine the optimal height for arranging voids in the cinder block. In other words, you need to know exactly how to set the height of elements for voids. In accordance with the production technology, the height of these parts must be such that the thickness of the bottom wall of the cinder block is at least 3 cm.
The third step is to cut the pipe into several pieces, each of which will correspond in height to the cylinders that form the voids.
The next item of work is to cone the pipe segments. To achieve this, it is necessary to make a longitudinal cut along the segment to its middle. After that, the element is crimped in a vice, and the edges are welded together. Each resulting cone is also brewed from bothsides.
The fifth step in assembling the cinder block machine is to connect the stops in one row along the long wall of the mold. Along the edges of this row, you also need to add one plate with a thickness of 3 cm. They should have holes for fastening with lugs.
Next, you need to make a cut in the middle of each compartment of the form. An eye is welded from the back of the mold. These elements will allow you to temporarily attach parts to create voids to the matrix. This is very convenient as the cylinders can be removed to create monolithic blocks if needed.
Completion of works
After assembling all the above parts, the work is almost finished. There are a couple more things to do.
Outside of one of the transverse walls of the form, 4 bolts must be welded to fasten the hole from the vibration motor. Using a welding machine, it is also necessary to weld the apron and blades on the side where the material will be loaded. The final work is the preparation of all elements for painting, that is, their cleaning and polishing. The last step is to assemble the press from the plate. It must have holes that, in their location and size, will repeat the location and size of the cylinders. For convenience, it is recommended to increase the diameter of the hole in the plate by 0.5 cm from the actual value.
The plate itself must be made in such a way and of such a size that it can freely fall into the mold by 5-7 cm. The end of the work is the welding of the handles to the press, its cleaning and processingprimer, as well as the installation of a vibration motor.
Making cinder blocks with your own hands on the machine
As for any recommendations about the proportions for preparing the solution, nothing changes here. The ratio of materials remains the same, and you also need to carefully monitor the consistency of the solution and adjust it by increasing or decreasing the amount of water.
Before loading the solution into the mold, it must be lubricated with oil. This will help to avoid sticking of the solution to the walls of the matrix. The finished mixture is loaded inside and the process of vibrocompression begins. The filled forms are installed on a vibrating plate and kept on it for 5-15 seconds. After this short period of time, you will definitely have to add more solution to the mold, since this one will surely settle. After that, the process is repeated, but the vibrating plate does not need to be turned on. It is necessary to wait until the press reaches the limiter. The mold is then removed before the machine is turned off.
From 1 to 3 days is allocated for primary drying. After that, they can be taken out of the matrix, laid on a horizontal surface, covered with plastic wrap and left to dry for a month. As you can see, the machine for the production of cinder blocks is quite simple to assemble.
Why cinder block?
If everything is already clear with how to make a cinder block, then the question remains why this particular material. Naturally, the first reason is the independent procurement of material. The second reason is the minimum heat loss.at the building from this raw material. Due to the large dimensions of each block, the time required for construction is greatly reduced, as well as the amount of mortar for masonry. If necessary, you can change the composition of the cinder block to achieve the desired properties.
Application
Most often this material is used only if it is necessary to build a low-rise building. However, if high-quality cement was used in the production of a concrete block, then it is possible to form a foundation from this material. In addition, the products are successfully used as insulation for frame structures.
