Concrete blocks – construction material, which is quite widely used in the construction of walls as residential buildings, as well as country houses and other outbuildings. This hollow material uses residues from various industries as a filler, or, more simply, slag, which has excellent characteristics for excellent thermal insulation of walls. This is the one main reason, why cinder blocks are very often used today in domestic construction as a reliable and repeatedly proven insulation.
Self-production technology
You can purchase such blocks, but there is also the opportunity to make them yourself. To do this, you need to make a mold in which this product will be produced. The shape can be standard size, but at the request of a person you can create it with individual parameters. As a rule, if you need more or less rapid production, one mold will not be enough. If you imagine the situation, then you will only need to fill one cinder block and then wait certain time, V best case scenario a couple of hours until it sets. That is, productivity during one day will be extremely low for manufacturing required quantity blocks may take several months! But this problem can be avoided by making several dozen identical forms.
Necessary materials
What will you need for this? Can be made wooden molds, which will consist of side walls and a bottom, also make internal round or square look for internal voids. As the experience of specialists shows, it is best to make square voids - then you save a large number of concrete.
When making formwork from wood, you should choose good planed wood, otherwise problems when removing the block cannot be avoided when it begins to cling to knots and irregularities.
Concrete must be made with a sufficient degree of fluidity so that it shrinks well, and then vibrated, for example, by lightly tapping the walls with a hammer.
A good option is to use metal molds. However, here you need to use welding machine, as well as the ability to weld metal structures evenly and firmly. To do this, you can make a frame by welding together 4 walls and a bottom, and welding pipes or squares inside. Such forms will last very long long time, however, their production will not be cheap due to the cost of the metal itself; it is also irrational when producing a small number of cinder blocks.
Additional manufacturing option
There is one more no less interesting way production of cinder blocks. It has the advantage of being more efficient, but it requires some equipment. Of course, it will not be free and you will still have to shell out some money. If we take it to a minimum, we need a concrete mixer, even a small one will do, and a vibrating table. In this case, you no longer need to make a bunch of forms that will take up a lot of space. Molds are made of metal according to a sample. Comfortable handles will definitely need to be welded to the molds.
- When making blocks in this way, the concrete must be made thick enough to liquid solution won't do.
- After pouring into the mold, immediately place the product on a vibrating table, where the concrete will be compacted within a minute.
- We decide on a storage location, and after the process is completed, we carry the block there, holding the form by the handles.
- Afterwards, carefully and slowly turn the mold over and, after knocking on it, carefully pull out the cinder block. To paraphrase the saying, “the first block is lumpy,” that is, sometimes you can see that it floats or, even worse, begins to fall apart when removed. This means we change the degree of density - either it is weak, or the mixture is too dense. What degree of density to choose is actually not difficult to figure out - after making a couple of blocks everything will become clear.
Making a vibrating table
You can make a vibration table yourself with very little skill. To make it, you need to purchase a sheet of metal in the form of a square with side dimensions of about a meter. You will also need an electric motor of several kilowatts, about 2, and good springs. They can be found among spare parts removed during disassembly from a car that has fallen into disrepair or an old motorcycle. To the corners steel sheet The springs are welded, and the engine is bolted or welded to the center of the structure. It is imperative to put a pulley on the shaft, preferably with an offset center of gravity. After this, we turn the resulting machine over, installing it on a reliable base and securing it well. Due attention should be given electrical cable, or rather, how it is connected. The cable must not be in places with open insulation and other damage. The metal must be reliably grounded.
Now you know how to make a cinder block with your own hands, so build required object will not cost you much.
Video
The process of making cinder blocks using a wooden mold is revealed in detail:
There is no shortage of materials for construction - today you can buy everything. The prices, however, are such that any construction costs a pretty penny, so making building materials yourself is not a whim, but a necessity. IN last years brick has serious competitors: blocks made of gas silicate and foam concrete, porous ceramics, expanded clay, polystyrene. All these materials are made on production equipment, but one type of wall stone you can make at home is cinder block. We will tell you how to make a machine for making cinder blocks with your own hands.
Cinder block is fake diamond rectangular in shape and strictly certain sizes. The type and size of the cinder block depend on the purpose. Most often, this is a block with technological voids (about 30% of the volume), providing relatively low weight and reducing the thermal conductivity of the material.
Depending on the purpose, cinder block can be:
- hollow or monolithic;
- whole or half;
- private or facial;
- load-bearing or partition.
Decorative (facial) cinder block can be different colors, surface with front side It can be chipped, torn, corrugated, polished. The material is usually used for construction decorative hedges
Several basic block sizes and weights:
- ordinary standard 390x190x188 mm, weight 20 – 28 kg;
- ordinary half 390x120x188 or 390x90x188 mm; weight 10 -14 kg;
- partition 390Х120Х188 mm, weight 10 -15 kg.
Materials for the production of cinder block
The cinder block contains binder, filler and water. The block's name comes from blast furnace slag, which was once abundant and used as filler. Today, slag is rare, and the following is used as a filler for cinder blocks:
- granite screening;
- brick chips;
- fine crushed stone;
- river gravel;
- sand;
- crushed expanded clay;
- clay;
- wood sawdust.
The binder is cement grades 300 - 600. The grade of cement depends on the required strength of the block - the higher the grade, the denser the stone.
Characteristics of cinder block. Advantages of industrial production
There is no strictly defined recipe for making cinder block, so its characteristics are not constant. Depending on the filler, the cinder block has:
- Density (750-1,450 kg/cm3).
- Strength M30 – M150.
- The void ratio is on average 0.3, not more than 0.4.
- Thermal conductivity coefficient 0.27 – 0.65 W/m2
- Service life (depending on climatic conditions) 30 – 150 years.
Main difference industrial production cinder block - processing of molded stone in a steaming chamber. Within a day, at a temperature of 80–100 o C and humidity up to 100%, the material gains up to 70% of its maximum strength and can be immediately used in construction. The strength characteristics of a factory-made cinder block are approximately twice as high as those of a home-made cinder block. But the material made on a cinder block machine with your own hands is much cheaper and is also quite suitable for construction.
How to make cinder block at home
The principle of cinder block production is simple - it is pouring concrete mixture into the formwork:
- To prepare the working mixture, mix cement, fillers and water. Fillers are pre-screened to remove large and foreign fragments. The volume of water should not be too large so that the mixture has a semi-dry consistency (in professional slang - “prance”). An example of a typical proportion for a high-strength cinder block: filler - 7 parts, coarse sand - 2 parts, medium-fraction gravel or granite screenings - 2 parts, one and a half parts cement, and 3 water.
- The mold (matrix) is loaded with the working mixture and compacted as much as possible by vibrocompression or stuffing. After compaction, the mixture is added to the required volume and re-compacted.
- The formed block is carefully released from the mold.
- Dry the cinder block in natural conditions. After 24 hours, the blocks can be carefully moved from the molding site to the storage site; after 5–7 days, the blocks will be ready for use in construction. The use of a plasticizer allows for faster hardening - after 6–8 hours the cinder block can be moved to a warehouse. Blocks acquire maximum strength in a month, preferable conditions are heat and humidity.
Equipment for the production of cinder block
The main advantage of cinder block production is wide choose technical equipment. You can choose and do it yourself the right machine For home production cinder block.
For the simplest cinder block production you need:
- materials;
- cinder block matrix for molding;
- ventilated indoor space with a flat floor.
The level of mechanization depends on the wishes of the manufacturer and required quantity blocks. I offer three production options:
1. A small volume of blocks for your own needs can be made manually using a simple matrix, which can be easily made from a wooden board.
This is what the further process of making a cinder block looks like
2. The process can be facilitated by using the simplest machine for cinder blocks at home - a matrix for one block with vibration. Turning on the vibrator for a few seconds after filling the matrix and after adding the mixture to the full volume will speed up the process and reduce labor costs.
Instructions for making the machine and its drawing can be found on the Internet. Machine operation
3. A machine for making cinder blocks with two matrices allows you to significantly simplify production and produce material not only for yourself, but also for sale.
The cinder block machine is simple and can be made at home. To make your own machine you will need:
- welding machine;
- angle grinder, also known as “grinder”;
- ruler and chalk for marking.
The main parts of the machine for making cinder blocks with your own hands:
- Matrix
Molding boxes with guides and apron.
- Press
Two pipe handles, two walls sheet metal t. 3 mm and four clamping planes.
Two bases, two guides, crossbars and four wheels without brakes.
- Lever arm
Three pipes, lugs and two rods.
To visualize how to make a machine and see the drawings, I recommend watching two videos:
- The video in 3D format tells in detail about the design of the machine and the principle of operation.
- the video gives the full specification of the machine for making cinder blocks, general drawing and drawings of each individual element.
You can see the operation of a cinder block production machine here (VIDEO 5)
What can you build from cinder block?
The production of cinder blocks did not begin yesterday - in regions where there is an abundance of coal slag, this building material has been used for a long time. While the advantages of cinder blocks are well known (low cost and ease of manufacture), the disadvantages are often kept silent. The disadvantages of this material include:
- Environmental unsafety
If industrial slag is used in the production of a cinder block, it is likely that the material will have increased levels of radiation. Be sure to use a dosimeter when choosing a material.
- Instability to high humidity.
A cinder block wall must be insulated from natural moisture. Plastering a cinder block is not easy due to poor adhesion of the solution to the slag.
- Limited strength.
- Unpresentable appearance
Another reason to do cladding.
The use of cinder block is limited - it is suitable for construction:
- outbuildings (sheds, garages, utility rooms);
- one-story industrial buildings;
- baths (with careful waterproofing);
- fences and fences;
- summer cottages;
- extensions, etc.
Machine for making cinder blocks updated: November 10, 2016 by: Artyom
Cinder block is a modern analogue of many natural building materials. IN Lately is very popular among summer residents and owners country houses, as it has a lot of advantages, including low price and light weight, especially since you can build any type of building from a cinder block alone - starting from small barn, ending with a bath or residential building. Of course, of this material there are some disadvantages, but they can be quickly eliminated with additional facing works.
The peculiarity of this building material is that, if necessary, it can be made independently at home. For example, when you have a limited budget or just need blocks non-standard sizes. In this article we will talk about the technology for producing cinder blocks with our own hands, about the basic requirements, rules and nuances of production, and also give a couple of tips and recommendations.
General information
Cinder block - a material that is made by vibrocompression of concrete mortar, has rectangular shape with technological voids inside (up to three) various shapes, standardized size 18.8x19x39 cm.
There are blocks without voids - they are called solid. They are much less common, since hollow cinder blocks are cheaper and have better thermal and technical properties. soundproofing characteristics. The volume of voids does not exceed 30% of the total volume of each unit.
You can often hear that if you use cement in the manufacture of cinder blocks highest quality, then you can build from homemade blocks reliable foundation for a bathhouse or a house. But this is not true, because the foundation blocks must withstand heavy loads. Therefore, we recommend that for the construction of a bathhouse or residential building, you still purchase raw materials from a specialized construction market or replace them with foam blocks.
When making cinder blocks at home, you will need a special mold, ideally made of metal, in order to use it several cycles in a row, and a special vibrating machine. It is also best if you have a drawing of the blocks themselves, because without it you may end up with something completely different from what you originally wanted.
If you wish, you can change the parameters of the standard drawing, depending on the type of building and the goal you want to achieve.
To produce at home you will need:
- Coarse sand;
- Blast furnace slag or fine screening of crushed stone, crushed expanded clay;
- Cement grade not lower than M400;
- Vibrating table and vibrating machine;
- Mold for cinder block.
On average, one bag of cement is enough to produce 36 standard size cinder blocks.
Most main characteristic The quality of a material is its geometry. They must have perfectly smooth edges, otherwise, if there are defects, irregularities, etc., it will be impossible to lay them. To achieve ideal geometry, it is necessary to pour the solution into the mold not just to the brim, but with a small “hill”, since the solution will shrink a little when vibrating.
Mixing the solution
First, you need to understand that there is no ideal recipe for mixing the solution. Every master has the power to change the ratio of the ingredients included in the composition, but if this is your first time creating cinder blocks with your own hands, then you should stick to the standard composition:
- 7 parts slag;
- 2 parts of sand or gravel fraction 0.5-1.5 cm;
- 1.5 parts of cement grade M400 or better M500;
- 2-3 parts water;
As the main filler, instead of blast furnace slag, you can use expanded clay, clay, gypsum, gravel, perlite and many other analogues. But there is one thing important rule– if slag is chosen as the main filler, then adding other additives is strictly not recommended.
Special attention given to the amount of water in the mixture. The solution should not turn out too liquid or vice versa.
You can also add 5 grams of plasticizer to the mixture for each block, which will help increase heat specifications, will protect the material from moisture and low temperature.
If you would like to get colored cinder blocks, then you can add a little chalk or crushed brick to the solution.
To check the quality, you can do a simple test: take a little solution in your hand, crumple it into a ball and throw it on a flat surface. If it crumbled due to a collision, but when compressed again it regained the shape of a circle, such a mixture can be safely used in construction.
Manufacturing technology
In case you are not planning large-scale construction works, construction multi-story building and so on, blocks can be created without vibrocompression.
Assembling the form
Assembling the mold is not a difficult process. The form is made of wood or metal, its dimensions must correspond to the dimensions of the future cinder blocks, on average it is 40x20x20 or 39x18.8x19 cm.
The structure consists of a bottom and side walls. The edges of the mold are made from sheets of metal 5-6 mm thick. The walls are welded together or notches are made in the transverse and longitudinal walls with a grinder, with the help of which they are attached.
If desired, and also to speed up the process, you can assemble a form with several cells 2,3,4 and even 6 or 8. To do this, it is enough to increase the length and width of all edges and install additional partitions between the cells.
To create hollow blocks, cylinders made of wood or metal, usually 2-3 pieces, are attached to the bottom using ordinary hardware (screws or nails). To save money and make your work even easier, instead of cylinders you can use ordinary empty bottles.
If you use wood as the walls of the mold, then they are in mandatory needs to be painted oil paint so that the solution does not stick to the wood.
Production using a mold
Ideally, for the cinder block production process, find a secluded room with a good ventilation system, a flat floor and dry air.
Step-by-step instruction for the production of blocks using the form:
- To begin with, all prepared components must be placed in a concrete mixer, adhering to the proportions indicated above.
- When the solution is ready, fill the form with it. In order to create voids in the thickness of the blocks, bottles are placed inside the mold with the neck up, usually two or three, pre-filled with water.
- The mixture is carefully compacted so that it fills all the voids and removes air bubbles, because than more air contains a block, the less quality and reliability it is.
The solution is left for 5-6 hours, after which the bottles are removed, and the blocks themselves are left in the mold for another day. Afterwards, the blocks are taken out and stored in stacks in a dry place inaccessible to sunlight. They are dried for 28 days so that the solution completely hardens and gains its ultimate strength.
In order to prevent cracking and other deformations, the blocks should be sprayed with a small amount of water for the first few days, after which they should be wrapped in a layer polyethylene film.
Production using a vibrating machine
A vibrating machine makes it possible to speed up and facilitate the process of producing cinder blocks significantly, but the price for such a unit is quite high. Therefore for disposable better machine do not buy or assemble it yourself, although in this case you will need certain knowledge in electrical and engineering.
The price of a machine depends on three main factors: manufacturer, power and productivity.
Here are 3 simple steps to make blocks at home using a vibrating machine:
- The mixture is mixed in the required proportions in a concrete mixer.
- The solution is filled into a mold with a small slide. After that, the vibrator is turned on for 5-10 seconds, the solution settles. The procedure is repeated until the clamp settles on the limiter.
- Then the machine is turned on again for 10-15 seconds, and the mold is removed without turning off the unit.
Within a week (5-7 days), the blocks are dried, and their complete hardening occurs no earlier than after a month.
Cinder blocks are stored in pyramidal stacks of up to one hundred units in each stack.
- Blocks made with the addition of cement are stronger and more durable. Lime blocks cope with loads a little worse.
- During drying, the blocks should not be placed close to each other. This can only be done after the solution has completely dried.
- If you replace small granules with sand, the technical characteristics of such a material will only increase.
- If you want to save money, you can combine cement and lime in a ratio of 3 to 1. This will not affect the quality in any way.
- Remember, the thicker the solution, the faster the block will dry.
- Immediately before pouring the mold, it must be cleaned and wiped. To do this, use diesel fuel, used engine oil, and so on. This manipulation will prevent the solution from sticking to the matrix.
Despite the fact that wood and brick are leaders in the construction markets, many craftsmen have learned to save money by making inexpensive, but quality material– cinder block. Owners summer cottages attracts simple technology production. A machine for making cinder blocks at home can be bought at any construction market. By adhering to the recipe, you can easily produce blocks of fairly decent quality in a short time.
The popularity of cinder block is due to its practicality, low cost and ease of laying. From this material you can independently build houses, outbuildings, bathhouses, garages and other structures. And you don’t have to buy it already ready-made blocks, because making cinder blocks with your own hands at home is not particularly difficult. It is enough to study the features of the building material and the sequence of actions in the masonry process. From this article you will learn how to make high-quality cinder blocks at home, what requirements should be followed, and what mistakes should be avoided.
What is a cinder block
Let's look at what a cinder block is made of. This is a regular parallelepiped 39 cm long, 18.8 cm high and 19 cm wide. The more correct its shape, the easier the laying process will be. Blocks can be solid or hollow. Solid products are used for the construction load-bearing walls And interior partitions. In contrast, hollow blocks, having a void ratio of about 30%, are more economical. Voids make cinder blocks warmer, increase their soundproofing properties. In addition to the construction of walls, such products are used for insulation concrete frames buildings.
The production of hollow cinder blocks requires the presence of several holes. The number of holes can be 2 or 3. The shape of the holes can also be very different: round, rectangular or square.
We manufacture DIY cinder block mold
The first step is to purchase or make your own molds for cinder blocks. It is in them that cinder blocks will be made with your own hands. You can make one form if necessary small construction. If you want to speed up the process of making cinder blocks at home, you can make a blank designed for the simultaneous production of 3-6 blocks. Design drawings are prepared in advance.
Let's look at how to make a mold with your own hands, the dimensions of which are 400x200x200 mm. To do this, you will need boards or sheets of metal with a thickness of at least 3 mm. The structure itself consists of a bottom to which the walls are attached. The height of the walls corresponds to the expected height of the parallelepiped.
To form voids, metal pipes with a diameter of about 6–9 cm are taken. They must first be processed with a grinder so that they form cones. This is necessary to ensure ease of removing them from hardened cinder concrete or removing the mold from a block that has not yet hardened. The pipes are connected by a metal jumper and fixed to the bottom or side walls of the mold.
The cinder block production technology allows the use wooden blanks in the shape of cones. If you follow a very simple path, then to make cinder blocks, bottles filled with water are used, which are sunk in the solution. However, in this case, after pouring it is necessary to wait until the solution hardens in the mold.
The form can be detachable. To do this, the walls are secured so that they can be easily removed. In this case, the finished cinder block can be easily released from the mold. Grooves are cut into the long walls of the mold, into which short transverse walls are inserted.
During the manufacturing process of the mold, you will need a lid, which will ensure leveling of the surface of the solution, and will also serve as a kind of press. Holes must be made in the lid for the conical components if they are not provided for fastening to the lid. If the conical protrusions are rigidly fixed to the lid, then the lid also acts as a press. If readers are interested in how to make cinder blocks solid, then to do this it is enough to remove the conical cylinders from the structure and make the lid monolithic.
Manufacturing of vibration machine
To provide best quality of the resulting products, special equipment is used for the production of cinder blocks at home. This is the so-called vibrating machine. It allows you to create vibration after pouring the solution into the mold, which helps to compact the solution and increase the strength of the product. Let's look at how to make a homemade vibrating machine yourself. Its scheme is quite simple.
Vibrating machine for the production of one block
By its design, the vibrating machine consists of the following elements:
- A metal box (shape) designed for the simultaneous production of 1–3 cinder blocks with your own hands. The box is made of metal sheets. Its dimensions correspond to the dimensions of future products.
- Cylinders for forming voids. Pieces are used for this purpose metal pipes, which are processed with a grinding wheel to form a taper. The cylinders are connected to each other by a metal bridge along the long side of the mold and attached to the side walls. The distance from the bottom of the cylinders to the bottom should not be less than 3 cm.
- A slotted lid that fits over the cylinders.
- Handles on the sides for removing the mold from the blocks.
- Electric motor with a power of 0.5–0.8 kW. It is bolted to one of the walls of the mold.
WITH reverse side Eyelets are welded into the mold for attaching the cylinders. If it is necessary to make solid blocks, the cylinders can be easily removed from the eyes. The finished equipment for making cinder blocks is cleaned and painted.
With the help of such a machine, a cinder block at home is very durable and has the correct geometry.
After making the cinder block molds, you can begin the actual production process.
Proportions of solution for making cinder blocks
There is a specific recipe for the production of cinder blocks:
- The main filler is 7 parts. Slag filling is usually used, but it can be replaced with crushed ceramic bricks, gypsum, sawdust, gravel and other similar components.
- Cement - 1.5 parts. You should take cement of a grade no lower than M400.
- Sifted sand - 2 parts.
- Water until thick. To determine the optimal thickness of the solution, you need to squeeze the solution in your hand and then throw a handful on the ground. At normal density, the solution will disintegrate, and when compressed again, a single mass will form again.
The cinder block production technology provides for the additional introduction of a plasticizer intended for concrete into the solution. It helps to increase product strength, water resistance and frost resistance. The plasticizer is taken in the amount of 5 g per 1 block.
Technology for self-production of cinder blocks
Before making cinder blocks, you should study the recommendations of experienced craftsmen who talk about the most popular mistakes made by beginners.
Scheme for the production of one block with manual ramming
The production of cinder blocks at home consists of several stages:
1. Prepared concrete mortar. To do this, it is better to use a concrete mixer.
2. Concrete mixture is poured into the prepared form. It is applied with a slide, which settles during the compaction process. When making in a conventional form, you can use the rule by which the mixture is smoothed flush with the walls.
3. The mold is closed with a lid.
4. If a vibrating machine is used, it is turned on for a few seconds, during which the mixture is compacted. If you use a regular mold, you can tap the sides with a hammer. This is necessary so that air bubbles come out of the concrete and all voids are compacted.
5. The compacted mass can be immediately removed from the mold, but it is recommended to keep it inside the mold for 24 hours.
Many people are interested in the question: how long does it take to dry? ready product? Within a day, the blocks can be transferred to a permanent storage location. If a plasticizer was used during their manufacture, the solution hardens within 7–8 hours. During storage of the material, it is not allowed to be on straight sun rays. It is best to store the blocks in a warehouse at a constant temperature and high humidity. After a month, you can build any structures from the blocks.
As you can see, making a cinder block with your own hands is quite simple. And its cost is such that it allows you to save twice on materials.
We figured out how to make a cinder block with your own hands. If you need to build a small outbuilding on your own site, there is no need to buy ready-made cinder blocks. It's easier to make it yourself by buying cement and a slag machine. Moreover, you can make the equipment for this yourself.
Cinder block is a building material made from a special concrete mixture by vibrocompression. Buildings made from this material are warm, the construction process is quite simple and does not take much time. Thanks to this, cinder blocks have become very popular in private construction.
In addition, you can build completely on cinder blocks. profitable business. To do this, you need to have a special recipe and production technology, and also try to automate the process of making cinder blocks with your own hands at home.
Cinder blocks can be either hollow or solid. Solid cinder blocks are most often used for external cladding and foundations, as they have excellent strength characteristics. In turn, hollow cinder blocks can provide good sound and heat insulation of walls. In addition, thanks to the voids, the consumption of raw materials can be significantly reduced, which will affect the cost of production. The strength characteristics fully satisfy all requirements.
Hollow blocks in which slag (cinder blocks), expanded clay ( expanded clay concrete blocks) or sawdust (arbolite blocks). Such blocks have very good heat-insulating properties, which allows them to be used as insulation. Using in construction the above described thermal insulation blocks, you can make the walls of a building warmer without increasing their thickness. These blocks are significantly larger than the size of ordinary bricks, making construction work much faster and easier, and mortar is saved during laying.
When using fillers, which are most often free, you can significantly reduce the thermal conductivity and cost of products, as well as increase their strength characteristics.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of this building material include the following:
- It is possible to make cinder blocks with your own hands at home.
- Exist various techniques. The material, in addition to autoclave treatment, can be dried by steam treatment or at room temperature.
- The building will have minimal heat loss.
- Short construction period and low cost. The walls are erected very quickly due to the large size of the blocks. In addition, the consumption of the solution during construction is quite small, which saves time on its preparation.
- By changing the proportions of the recipe when making cinder blocks, you can endow the products with certain properties that are necessary for their use.
- You can produce products of any shape and size, which is very convenient. In addition, this can often make installation much easier.
But cinder blocks, like any other material, have some disadvantages:
- The environmental issue is quite pressing, especially with regard to products containing blast furnace slag.
- Quite low frost resistance.
- The material requires enhanced protection from moisture.
- Cinder blocks are quite fragile and therefore not suitable for foundation installation. Even when erecting walls, it is necessary to take into account the load and height of the future building.
Application
Most often, cinder blocks are used for the construction of low-rise buildings, but according to some data, cinder blocks can also be used to build a foundation if they contain “high” grade cement.
Cinder blocks can act as additional insulation, during the construction of frame structures.
General requirements
High-quality cinder blocks can be made even in a garage, provided that you know the recipe and manufacturing technology. A standard cinder block has dimensions of 39x19x20 cm and three small holes.
In order for the cinder block to be of high quality and have the necessary strength, you will need:
- vibropressing equipment;
- high-quality cement (not lower than M400);
- blast furnace slag;
- coarse sand.
Slag is obtained during coal processing, that is, it is the most the best filler for blocks. But nowadays, due to the active use of gas, ash and slag have begun to be produced in much smaller volumes. Therefore, more and more often, slag is replaced with zitoconcrete, which has a higher cost.
This building material is now becoming more and more popular due to its low price and excellent sound and heat insulation. In addition, calculations show that when making cinder blocks with your own hands, for one block you will need 0.011 cubic meters of solution (if you use a 1:7 ratio), that is, a bag of cement will be enough for you to produce 36 blocks! This is simply a great result.
High-quality cinder blocks must have the most accurate geometry possible, since if there are various flaws and large irregularities on the surface of the blocks, you will have to spend significant amount funds for the construction of the walls of your building. In order to get a perfectly flat cinder block, you must always fill the vibroform to the very edges, since otherwise the blocks will be crooked. It is advisable to fill the vibroform not even to the brim, but with a reserve, since then the concrete will be slightly shaken by vibration.
The production process is as follows: first, the vibrating mold is turned on for 5-15 seconds, after which it is necessary to evaluate the level of the solution in the mold. If it ends up below the edge of the mold, you will need to set the clamp and turn on the vibration again. You need to turn off the vibration when it hits the limiter. After this, you will need to simultaneously pull out the form and turn off the vibrator.
How to fill the form?
If desired, arrange independent production cinder blocks, it is necessary to remember that ideal composition simply does not exist, since each master has his own unique recipe, depending on the slag available and suitable for specific needs. But there is a certain standard, according to which cinder blocks have the following composition: 1.5-3 parts water, 1.5 parts cement, the grade of which should not be lower than M400, 2 parts sand and 7 parts slag. As mentioned above, a standard cinder block has dimensions of 39x19x20 cm, while in private construction dimensions of 40x20x20 cm can be used.
In addition to slag, other coal combustion waste, as well as broken bricks, gypsum, granite and stone screenings, perlite, processed sawdust, gravel and ash can be used as a filler for blocks. In order to achieve greater plasticity, you can add 5 grams of plasticizer per block during vibration casting. The plasticizer can significantly increase the strength of the block, eliminate cracks, and also increase its water resistance and frost resistance.
Be very careful with the amount of water, make sure that the blocks do not spread when removed. To be more confident, you can test the solution - if it comes together in your fist, but crumbles when dropped, then this is what you need!
The concrete that you will need to build a small private bathhouse can be prepared by hand, but if you are planning to build a larger facility, you will need electric concrete mixer volume about 0.2-0.5 cubic meters.
Manufacturing process
To get high-quality cinder blocks as a result, you need to follow these steps:
- At the very beginning, you need to put a solution into the mold with a slide and turn on the vibrator for 3-5 seconds to precipitate the solution. If the solution is not enough, it should be reported. After this, you need to insert the clamp and start the vibrator again. When the clamp reaches the limiter, the formation of the block will be completed.
- Next, you need to carefully remove the form, including the machine.
- The finished blocks need to be dried for about 5-7 days, and they will reach complete hardening, being in heat and high humidity, only after a month.
- You can carefully move the blocks without fear that they will break within a day, but you can store them together only after a week. If you added a plasticizer when creating the blocks, then they can be transported and stored in 6-8 hours.
More often ready-made cinder blocks are stored in pyramidal stacks, each of which can contain about a hundred blocks, with small gaps between each other for good drying. After a couple of months of drying, these blocks become suitable for construction.
Manufacturing of vibration machine
If your goal is to build one small building, for example, a bathhouse, then you can produce blocks in ordinary carrying boxes. If you are planning to build a larger object, then you will most likely need a machine that may not have a vibrating plate and may be homemade. Moreover, the production of blocks can drag you down and you may want to open own business, which will require you to automate the process. In addition, after building a bathhouse, you can build a good barn, beautiful gazebo or even a garage. If you have a hand-made vibrating machine at hand, you can use it to save a lot of time.
In order to make a machine for the production of cinder blocks with your own hands, you will need:
- fittings having a diameter of 12 mm;
- sheet iron having a thickness of approximately 3 mm;
- grinder and electric welding;
- a high-speed engine with a power of approximately 0.5-0.7 kW, which must have two shafts.
When making cinder blocks with your own hands, the vibration time is only 5-15 seconds. Then the vibroform is removed and after a day the cinder blocks can be stored. Using simple home machine, you can produce approximately 50 cinder blocks per hour, which is a pretty good result.