CEB Press Intro

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This page will hold the final version of the CEB Press Intro after the wiki reorganization. This is a list of pages that might hold relevant info. These need to be consolidated here: --Conor 10:00, 20 February 2011 (PST)

• CEB Press
• The Liberator Beta v1.0 Specifications and update: The Liberator Full Product Release Improvements
• CEB Proposal
• CEB Pressing Steps
• CEB Press 2 - definitely include that short video
• CEB press 'Distillations' video
• Full Product Release - The Liberator, Manual Version
• The Liberator Full Product Release - basically empty of content, but useful headings that might be used as guidelines for this page. Then redirect it to this page.

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What is it?

The "Liberator" Compressed Earth Block Press has been fully designed and tested by the Open Ecology team. You can now follow the instructions to build your own, or contact us if you want to buy a kit or a finished machine.

Building a machine yourself might seem scary, but every step of the process is fully documented and the OSE community is available on our discussion forums if you need help, advice, or a little hand-holding.

So what is this magnificent machine anyway? The Liberator is a machine that makes compressed earth blocks. That means it takes earth/dirt/soil and squeezes it really hard to make solid blocks which can be used for building. Compressed earth blocks (CEBs) have many advantages as a building material: by making the building materials from the ground on the site, they eliminate the need to cart them in from elsewhere. This cuts down the costs and environmental impact of transport. Compressed earth blocks are very strong and insulate well against both heat and sound. This makes for a very energy-efficient building. Best of all, there is no charge for using dirt; it is literally a dirt-cheap way of building! See the wiki page CEB intro and the CEB category for more details on building with CEBs.

Output with 2 people - a 6 foot high round wall, 20 feet in diameter, 1 foot thick, can be built in one 8 hour day. 3-5 bricks per minute (bricks are 6x12x4 inches) means enough blocks for a 6 foot high wall for a 300 square foot round building can made in one workday. The construction may be easier or harder, depending on what other equipment is available (tractor etc.) and the quality of the soil. The bigger the block size, the faster a wall is errected. And obviously, the bigger the block size, the heavier the block. Blocks from The Liberator will average 25 pounds (11.3kg).

The torch table will be used to automate the fabrication of the CEB machine, reducing fabrication time by an estimated 20 hours, and thus, also reducing the cost of the final product.

How does it work?

Design Rationale - OSE design is based on power from tractor hydraulics - where the tractor is a general tool that can supply power to a large number of devices.

Product Ecology - spader to pulverize soil. A tractor with loader and rototiller are required to prepare the soil. These are additional costs. The Liberator does not include a power source, so an external power source is needed. This could be the tractor hydraulics from LifeTrac, Power Cube, or any hydraulic power source with a capacity of 6 gallon per minute (22.71 liters per minute).

Demo Photos

Advantages

• Easy repair. The Liberator was designed to make maintenance as easy and infrequent as possible. The part that is most likely to need replacement is a rubber sheet from McMaster-Carr. The press is designed for disassembly, so if repairs are needed, the cost should be minimal. And unlike commercial machines, you have all the blueprints and sources for parts here, so there should be no difficulty repairing it.
• Requires as little as 1 person to operate
• Modular power source.

Specifications

1. Bricks per minute output: 3-5
2. Brick size: 12x6x6 inches (30.5x15.3x10.2 cm)
3. People operating machine: 1-2
4. Machine power source: tractor hydraulics or any hydraulic power source with 6 gallon per minute capacity
5. Machine mounting: tractor 3 point hitch or stand-alone foot
6. Hydraulic pressure: 2000psi
7. Hydraulic cylinder: 5 inch diameter, 19.6 inch area; 2.5 inch rod
8. Pressing cylinder pressure: 39,250 lb pushing force (~18 tons)
9. Controls: 2 spool, manual, hydraulic valve; automatic version forthcoming.
10. Compressive strength of bricks: to be measured
11. Structural cold rolled steel construction throughout
12. Design-for disassembly: full bolt-together construction for frame, compression chamber, table, tractor mount, and feet; welded hopper assembly and press plate; cylinders readily removable with pins
13. Wearable components: 1/8" Nylon 6/6 liner on compression chamber and table surface, each piece held by 2 bolts
14. Machine lifetime goals: 1 million bricks before repairs; liner may be replaced every 100,000 bricks
15. Material costs: $1000-1350
16. Fabrication time requirement for optimized production: 3-5 days, about 20 hours of direct fabrication
17. Manual fabrication tooling requirements: drill press, welder, acetylene torch
18. Optimal fabrication tooling: XYZ table with torch, MIG welder, hoist
19. Cost for machine: $3-5k

Comparison to other CEB presses

	STRENGTH OF BLOCKS	BLOCKS PER MINUTE	SIZE OF BLOCKS	MATERIALS USED	COST (USD)
INDUSTRY STANDARDS		Powell and Sons model: 2-3 AECT model: 3-5			Powell and Sons model: ~$10,400 (call for exact pricing) AECT model: ~$25,000 (call for exact pricing) "Slow-speed" machines can be found at various price ranges. These prices include the motor.
THE LIBERATOR		9-12	6x12x4 inches / 15x30x10 cm		Parts are approximately $1000. The machine will cost an estimated $3-5K, depending on manufacturing abilities. This does not include a motor so an external source of hydraulic power like the Power Cube is needed.