CEB Blocks: Difference between revisions
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My (James "Bunny" Slade) experience thus far: | My (James "Bunny" Slade) experience thus far: | ||
Soil mixture plays a big part on what your blocks look like and how they act after compression. In my limited experience I have had blocks come out good (our 1st 2), completely fall apart (the next 4 using different dirt), loafed (they rose like bread), crumbly, cracking and almost perfect. The first batch that came out was using some store bought dirt from Home Depot. [http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202306643/h_d2/ProductDisplay?selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&navFlow=3&keyword=texas+topsoil&Ntpc=1&langId=-1&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&storeId=10051&Ntpr=1&ddkey=Search]. Which looked like this: | Soil mixture plays a big part on what your blocks look like and how they act after compression. In my limited experience I have had blocks come out good (our 1st 2), completely fall apart (the next 4 using different dirt), loafed (they rose like bread), crumbly, cracking and almost perfect. The first batch that came out was using some store bought dirt from Home Depot. [http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202306643/h_d2/ProductDisplay?selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&navFlow=3&keyword=texas+topsoil&Ntpc=1&langId=-1&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&storeId=10051&Ntpr=1&ddkey=Search]. Which looked like this:<br> | ||
[[File:First_block_we_made_-_Cheap_dirt_from_HW_store.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Pretty decent]] | [[File:First_block_we_made_-_Cheap_dirt_from_HW_store.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Pretty decent]] <br> | ||
These blocks were just left outside with no special treatment and are still solid to this day. About 1 month old and has seen a little bit of rain and watering from the hose. | These blocks were just left outside with no special treatment and are still solid to this day. About 1 month old and has seen a little bit of rain and watering from the hose. | ||
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After that I got some black clay soil from a friend and mixed in some sand. These blocks came out looking pretty good. However, the cracked pretty intensely the next day. Lesson learned: Use less clay. | After that I got some black clay soil from a friend and mixed in some sand. These blocks came out looking pretty good. However, the cracked pretty intensely the next day. Lesson learned: Use less clay. | ||
Next up, Dan Schellenberg from www.propagelleprojects.blogspot.com come out with a few folks from around the world to see the machine and try some of his soil mixed with 5% cement. These blocks came out looking pretty good too, but they were loafing a bit. This was the first time I had really seen this issue and not sure why it was occurring. It was later brought to my attention that the press foot inside the compression chamber may be flexing during the brick ejection phase. I've only seen this issue with this series of blocks. | Next up, Dan Schellenberg from www.propagelleprojects.blogspot.com come out with a few folks from around the world to see the machine and try some of his soil mixed with 5% cement. These blocks came out looking pretty good too, but they were loafing a bit. This was the first time I had really seen this issue and not sure why it was occurring. It was later brought to my attention that the press foot inside the compression chamber may be flexing during the brick ejection phase. I've only seen this issue with this series of blocks.<br> | ||
[[File:SiltySoil5percentCement.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dan's Block]] | [[File:SiltySoil5percentCement.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dan's Block]] | ||
Revision as of 17:54, 15 November 2011
Links and information for using CEB's.
My (James "Bunny" Slade) experience thus far:
Soil mixture plays a big part on what your blocks look like and how they act after compression. In my limited experience I have had blocks come out good (our 1st 2), completely fall apart (the next 4 using different dirt), loafed (they rose like bread), crumbly, cracking and almost perfect. The first batch that came out was using some store bought dirt from Home Depot. [1]. Which looked like this:
These blocks were just left outside with no special treatment and are still solid to this day. About 1 month old and has seen a little bit of rain and watering from the hose.
A day or so later, I took more of that same soil after it had thoroughly dried out out and put it into the machine. These blocks literally fell apart as soon as they came out. Lesson learned: You need moisture.
Next up I tried just taking some dirt from our property and compressing it. I filled up a bucket, added some water for moisture and mixed it up. Those blocks came out looking really good. However they feel apart when I picked them up. Lesson learned: Don't use top soil with lots of organic mass.
After that I got some black clay soil from a friend and mixed in some sand. These blocks came out looking pretty good. However, the cracked pretty intensely the next day. Lesson learned: Use less clay.
Next up, Dan Schellenberg from www.propagelleprojects.blogspot.com come out with a few folks from around the world to see the machine and try some of his soil mixed with 5% cement. These blocks came out looking pretty good too, but they were loafing a bit. This was the first time I had really seen this issue and not sure why it was occurring. It was later brought to my attention that the press foot inside the compression chamber may be flexing during the brick ejection phase. I've only seen this issue with this series of blocks.
