How Are Building Bricks Made?

Question

How Are Building Bricks Made?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Bricks are made out of clay. Any kind of clay can make reasonably good bricks. Bricks are made in factories which are less complex in nature. Not a lot of machinery is required to manufacture bricks. Dug out clay is mixed well with water. The mixture is well grounded to obtain a texture which will allow the shaping of clay into a brick. Portions of this mixture are then shaped like bricks and are set out to dry. Drying is a slow process and can take days. When bricks are naturally dried out in the sun, they are a green color. The bricks are then fired or baked in an oven at the temperatures between 1000 to 12000 degrees; this is done so that all the excess water from the bricks is dried out. This is how bricks take on their famous red colour.

Answer 2

There are three basic ways in which brick can be made-up.In the first, water is mixed with clay into a paste which is forced into wooden molds. The mixture is then tipped in giant ovens called kilns. The second method involves forming a very stiff clay mixture which is forced through a rectangular hole –before being cut into brick –sized with a wire. The third method is similar to the first, less water is used and the bricks are pressed into shape. The first process is known as the 'stock method' because the wooden molds are called stocks. The seconds is known as the wire cut process; and the third is called the 'semi-dry' process. Once the bricks are molded into shape, they are placed in kilns to be fired, a process that takes several days, during which the bricks are placed in kiln to be fired, a process that takes several; days, during which the bricks are subjected to a very high temperature. Most modern brick manufacturer use to continue chamber kiln through which the bricks level, so that by the time they come out from the other kiln, they have been completely fired and are ready to use.
The reason why do bricks over lay is, if you look at a bricks building you will see that the bricks are not laid directly on the top of one another. If they were, the building would soon fall! Bricks are overlapped so that each brick supports its neighbours and there are so continuous vertical joins.