Making a brick press for paving slabs with your own hands – drawings

Building your own brick press can be an economical and satisfying project if you’re making paving slabs. If you have the correct supplies and a set of thorough instructions, you can assemble a reliable and effective press at home to make premium paver slabs.

We’ll walk you through the steps of building a homemade brick press in this article. Regardless of your level of experience, our comprehensive instructions and lucid diagrams will empower you to confidently take on this project.

Everything from obtaining the required equipment and supplies to putting the press together and testing it will be covered. You’ll have a working brick press at the end of this tutorial, ready to make gorgeous paving slabs for your landscaping or interior design projects.

Features of vibration compaction

The vibration pressing method is very straightforward: a rigid matrix set on a continuously vibrating frame is filled with the concrete mixture used to make the tiles. Additionally, until the mixture is completely compacted, a continuously vibrating punch—which functions as the opposite of the matrix and fits into it exactly by analogy with a piston and cylinder—presses on it from above. After that, the punch and matrix are raised, allowing completed goods to be removed from the pallet.

The primary benefit of this approach is its ease of production, which allows for the rapid, reasonably priced, and labor-light production of even large volumes. All that is needed for the technological process to produce paving slabs are vibration presses; other sophisticated machinery is not needed.

Components of a vibration press

Equipment used to make tiles needs specific parts and designs. It’s easy to make your own small vibration pressing machine; just follow the instructions carefully, make sketches, and weigh all your options.

Components of a vibration press’s structure:

• Table
• Tabletop
• Special device for pressing
• Vibration mechanism

Every component has multiple subunits and requires a specific method of attachment to other components. You need to prepare the drawings before you begin building a vibrating press by hand for paving slabs. You can either draw them yourself using your own modifications and design solutions, or you can download them from the Internet. In any case, using a professionally-made, ready-made plan as a foundation is preferable.

It’s best to decide right away which parts of your homemade vibrating table will be made independently and which can be purchased already assembled for ease and at a lower cost. Because the vibrating press is subjected to significant loads while in operation, it is best to build the machine out of steel and use electric welding to securely fasten the components. This will ensure that the parts are rigidly connected and won’t sway.

Making a vibrating press table

The structural components of a vibrating press table are as follows: a frame that is welded to the legs and measures either 70×100 or 50×70 centimeters. The size of the tabletop, which is decided by the anticipated production volumes, directly affects the size of the table; the more forms that will be used concurrently in the pressing process, the larger the tabletop should be. The worker’s comfort level is taken into consideration when choosing the leg length and table height, which are typically between 80 and 110 centimeters.

Vibration machine legs

First, a structural base must be made before equipment for vibration pressing paving slabs can be created. It is sufficient to use 10×10 centimeter angle steel, a pipe with an 8–10 centimeter cross section, or channel No. 10 to construct the legs. A grinder is used to cut four blanks, and the cuts are then trimmed.

In order for the legs of the vibration press to be concreted into the base, you can extend their length by 25 centimeters during the design phase if you intend to install it permanently. An alternative approach would be to weld the racks to the concreted embedded portions. To ensure that the weight of the equipment is distributed evenly, rectangular support plates made of 3–4 mm steel are welded to the lower ends of the racks for portable machines.

Vibration press frame

I-beam No. 10-12, angle steel 10×10 centimeters, or channel No. 10-12 are used to construct the table’s upper frame. Electric welding is used to join the blanks after they have been cut to size according to the drawing and arranged horizontally on a level surface. After that, the weld joints must be free of slag, meticulously ground with a grinder, and painted with an anti-corrosion coating. It is necessary to inspect the structure for plane deviations once the frame has been welded.

Table assembly

At this point in the process of building a brick press to produce paving slabs, the table must be put together into a single unit. The legs are welded to the corners of the frame, which is positioned bottom up on a horizontal surface.

Gusset inserts, which should be made of sheet steel with a minimum thickness of 3–4 millimeters and shaped like a right triangle, should be taken into consideration in order to guarantee a more robust connection between the legs and the frame. It is also preferable to add more connections around the entire perimeter, roughly in the middle of the legs, to guarantee rigidity.

Manufacturing of a vibropress tabletop

A machine used to produce concrete tile coverings (paving stones, paving slabs) needs a sturdy, unyielding tabletop. Cross struts and perimeter components make up its frame.

The frame itself is built with struts using angle steel 7×7 centimeters or channel #8–10. The form and dimensions of the frame must precisely match those of the table frame, even if the tabletop is the same or 6-7 centimeters larger.

Following their grinding and trimming, all blanks are positioned on a horizontal plane, electric welding is used to fuse them together, and grinding is used to smooth out the seams. It is essential to keep an eye on each part’s evenness while working. The channel or angle’s horizontal shelves are all on top when the frame is in this operating position.

The next step is to cut out a rectangle that fits the frame’s dimensions; sheet steel that is 8 to 10 millimeters thick works best for this. After carefully being electric welded from below, the rectangle is positioned atop the frame. The steel sheet on the table top should be facing up when in operation.

Device for movable connection between table and tabletop

To ensure proper operation of the vibratory slab pressing machine, the connection between the table and tabletop must be somewhat flexible, allowing for a certain amount of vibration amplitude. Frequently, springs fastened to the table support the tabletop.

Six steel springs with a cross-section of 5–6 centimeters and a length of up to 12 centimeters that are sufficiently stiff are required. Next, 12 glasses with a length equal to one-third of the springs’ length each are cut from a pipe with the proper diameter (the springs should fit inside freely and without a big gap).

Six glasses are welded from above to the table’s four corners and along the middles of its long sides. The remaining six glasses are welded from below to the tabletop in the same configuration. It is best to place the tabletop on the table, place glasses between them, and use chalk to mark the locations before beginning work.

Selecting and installing an electric motor or vibrator

You need a vibration motor in order to build a vibration press with your hands for paving slabs. Given the simultaneous effects of the press pressure on the structure, the motor needs to have sufficient power. It is preferable to buy dependable, high-quality factory-made vibration motors with adjustable frequency and amplitude of vibrations rather than building a homemade machine. VI-99/E is appropriate.

High-quality material compaction will take place horizontally as a result of the forms being compressed vertically. The vibration press motor is fixed vertically to the tabletop from below, about where the center of gravity is located at the intersection of the diagonals. A steel bracket with unique holes for attaching the electric motor is welded to the underside of the tabletop to enable fastening.

Bolts and carved washers are the ideal fastening method for the vibration press engine because they prevent the fasteners from loosening and unscrewing when the engine vibrates.

Making a pressing unit

The paving slabs are compacted and given the required properties once the solution is poured into the molds and the vibropress is turned on. When building a vibropress, you must attend to the pressing mechanism because the material’s quality and longevity are contingent upon the moment of vibration and pressing.

Making a vibropress with a hydraulic system by hand is challenging; however, a mechanical punch powered by the worker’s physical strength is much simpler.

From side to middle, a unique bracket with a horizontal axis is welded to the short side of the frame. A sleeve with an axis hole welded to its end holds a rectangular steel profile lever that is mounted on the axis measuring 3 by 5 centimeters in diameter. The other end of the lever is welded with a transverse handle, up to 25 centimeters long, made of a similar profile.

Lever length should not be more than 15 centimeters longer than table length (ideally 10–12 centimeters). A punch (a steel plate that precisely duplicates the matrix’s configuration in plan) is attached to the end of a steel rod that is positioned in the center of the lever using an axis bracket facing the tabletop. On the transverse handle of the lever is the on/off button for the vibration motor itself.

Building your own brick press to make paving slabs can be a satisfying and economical project. You can make a useful tool that saves money and enables custom paving designs by adhering to thorough drawings and instructions. Even for individuals with only mediocre DIY skills, the process can be manageable with the correct supplies and careful planning, despite its initial intimidating appearance.

You can build a reliable press that suits your needs out of easily accessible materials. This method lowers costs while simultaneously giving you the satisfaction of creating something by hand. Furthermore, owning a DIY brick press expands your creative options for original paving patterns and designs, improving your outdoor area.

All things considered, building a brick press is a worthwhile endeavor. If you are patient and pay close attention to details, you can create superior paving slabs that are customized to meet your exact needs. This project is a great example of how hard work and a little creativity can produce amazing results that improve the look and feel of your house.

Building a brick press on your own can be a cost-effective and satisfying do-it-yourself project that yields unique paving slabs. This article will walk you through the steps of building a working press out of easily accessible materials, with clear instructions and simple-to-follow drawings. No matter your level of experience, the process will be straightforward and the results will be pleasing, enabling you to create excellent paving slabs for your outdoor areas.

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