These are drawings for making the block box press.  We have photos and a material list in an earlier post below.  Continue to read will take you to more drawings by Dr. Geiger.

Dr. Geiger has been involved from early on.  Everytime I would vary away from the original concept he would be on to me to get back on track.  He shares the vision of a manual system that can be used by the semi-skilled under the worst of conditions to create shelter and industry.  Dr. Geiger is now in Thailand working with locals who make CEB’s (compressed earth blocks).

Click on the “more” for photos and more dialog..

As you can see, the block was distorted in our redneck/red truck compression test.

This is a redneck’s red truck that weighs fifteen thousand pounds or so just about any day of the week empty.  Most of the weight is on the front axle when it’s empty, diesel motor and all.  I think an estimate of two ton or four thousand pounds or so would be a safe estimate of weight applied to the block.

One of the neat things about plastic is its resiliency.  If you look close I think you’ll agree that even if the block failed the two ton redneck red truck weight bearing test it will still work just fine in a wall.

This after noon I made another block and feel we have the one we want now.  It isn’t perfect and will still need some tweeking to make it work better.   But it is at a point where others can copy it and start making blocks.  Their experiences along with ours will help us find the final block making machine.     Bob Warner took a picture of the plastic block box machine yesterday and then put down all the measurements on the photo to make it easier for others to copy.

Click on the “more” to see more pictures and dialog about the machine and today.

We have a bolt with a 15/16  nut on it so we can use a rachet to turn the Acme screw.  We were given a steering wheel from a bus today.  We might change out the bolt and nut for the steering wheel.  Eveyone that makes a plastic block box machine will find their own way of turning the Acme screw.  I think the steering wheel will be my favorite though.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#93410a632  is the part number and source for the Acme screw.  http://www.mcmaster.com/#94815a037 is the part number and source for the nut.  A substitute that might be available locally is scaffolding screw jacks.  http://www.affordablescaffolding.com/accessories.html?gclid=CKOCytL5_qUCFYde7AodXBOqow#screw_jacks  The downside of using them is their length, usually only sixteen inches of travel available.  We’ve found the thirty six inches of travel about what you need.  Less than that will mean repeated compressions to get the pressure needed.

This is detail shot of the ram itself.  The three slots are the wire retainers.  You can see in the block box the wire guides.  The wires can’t be installed after the block is compressed, at least we couldn’t do that.  So we designed the machine to locate and maintain location of the wires during compression.

I welded half of a steel ball to the end of the Acme threaded rod.   I used a piece of pipe and a rounded piece of tubing from a tractor attachement  to contain the threaded rod.  I put in a grease zert to make things work better and live longer.  This gives a wide surface for the pressure applied by the threaded rod.  The grease keeps it smooth.

The threaded nut was welded into a hole cut into a piece of half inch plate that is welded to the back or end of the block box  Care must be taken to insure alignment with the ram as it travels down the block box.

Everyone will find a postion that works best for them when it comes to using the block box.  I find this position just about perfect for me.  It has enough angle so I don’t have to fight the plastic falling out like I did when it was vertical.  And it is easier to keep the plastic in place while loading than when the block box was horizontal.

This little tool was designed by Bob Warner for tying the loops in the ends of the tie wires.  The handle is three quarter’s inch round rod and the shaft is half inch pipe.  The tab is 1/4″ by 1/2″ by 3/4″.  A slot is cut into the end of the pipe to allow post tensioning by twisting of the tie wires if necessary.

The small tab is used to make a ninety degree bend in the tie wire.  We’re using 12 gauge galvanized tension wire.  It is stiff to work with but will last a long time.  It is designed for use with chainlink and livestock fencing.

Then using the tab and the round shaft a loop is made in the wire.

This rod with the slot in it is located at the top of the block box frame.  It’s part of a guide for gauging the length of the tie wires.  After Bob made the trick little tool is was modified to make the loop using the tool. 

The ends of the loop are placed in the slot.

Using the tool and the slot the eye is made in the tie wire.  Pliers could be used to do the same thing.  But it wouldn’t be near as easy.  Especially with wire as stiff as the twelve gauge.

This photo shows the three tie wires placed in the wire guides in the floor of the block box along with being properly placed in the ram.

This is loading the plastic before we put on the lid.  As you can see the angle position makes this easier. 

I did this by myself and didn’t take pictures of the cover plate in place.  The cover plate was put in place.  Once it was in place I shoved in more plastic, occasionally compressing it with the business end of a sledge hammer.  I did one full compression stroke and then filled it back up.  One more full compression stroke and I removed the cover plate.

This is the compressed block of trash plastic.  As you can see it would be very difficult with this design to install the tie wires now.

This is the tensioning tool.  It’s made using half inch round rod.  The slot on the end is critical.  It was made with a chop saw blade and at about an forty five degree angle.

The end of the tie wire is fed through the wire guide on the end into the block box.  The tied loop in the wire at the ram is placed over the block of plastic.  The loose end of the wire is pulled through the loop.  Then the end of the tensioning tool is placed through the loop about five inches.  The groove is placed over the wire.  The loose end of the tie wire is folded over the handle of the tensioning tool.  The handle is forced towards the bottom of the block box.  When the loop is over the end of the tensioning tool the tool is folded down onto the plastic block.  Excess wire is cut off and the end is loosely wrapped around the tie wire.  This is done to all three tie wires.

The ram is pulled back away from the block.  I find a small lever bar is all that is needed to remove the block from the block box.

These blocks are a nominal 8″ X 8″ X 16″ .  They can take abuse and maintain their shape.  They weigh six to seven pounds each and difficult to compress or distort.  Tied to together with wire and rebar they will make a great wall ready for plaster inside and out.

They are a future based upon our past.

http://builderswithoutborders.org/HAITI/Haiti_Proposal.pdf

http://builderswithoutborders.org/HAITI/BWB_HaitiStrawbaleH2.pdf

Compare that to our plastic building blocks.

We were having an awesome day.  After that it was just a really good day for inventing in general.

This is the bottom of the new block box, alpha 2 I guess we can call it.  The two pieces of angle iron or for the future stand that will support the block box.  The three pieces of flat stock welded in the middle are to keep it from spreading when compressing a block.  The angle iron is 2″ X 2″ X 1/4″ .  The flat bar stock is 1/4″ X 2″.  The spacing is even spaces, about eight and  a half inches as I recall.

I cannibalized the ram and screw mechanism from the original block box press for the new one.  Here it is installed and ready for compressing the first block.   The next picture is of the business side of the ram with the wires in place.  The next picture is from the other end.  Notice the wires coming out of the bottom. 

This is pre-compression chamber I made.  Basically it smashes the material a bit before I put it into the block box press.  I just put the stuff in there and pound it down with a sledge.  Works great.

With the ram back as far as possible I filled up the box press with plastic trash.  Most of it had been through the pre-compression tool.  Then I put on the cover.  I haven’t put on the permanent lid because I wanted to make sure that the new press worked first.  Once the lid was on I ran the screw down all the way as you can see here.

When I pulled back the ram this is what you could see at the other end of the block press.

I added some more plastic and ran the ram down one more time.

This is the good part.  I removed the cover plate. and pulled the wires up for tensioning with my tensioning tool.

First the wire is pushed through the eye or loop at the ram end of the block.  Then that slot you see on the bottom of the tension tool is pushed through the eye or loop and down the wire about five inches.  The loose end of the wire coming through the eye or loop is folded over the handle of the tension tool.  Then the tool is pushed over the eye or loop towards the end of the block.  This action pulls the wire to the loop tightening it.  When the tool folds the wire over the eye the wire is tight.  If it isn’t the tool can be relocated and it can be done again until the wire is tight.

This is when I broke the camera.  So I don’t have any pictures of the finished block.  First thing, the three wire block is a much better block.  Second thing, removing the block was much easier with the tapered sides.  I believe this design will be the final design.  There might be some tweaks but this thing here works.  I’ll get the top hinged and come up with an exact material list and dimensions so that others can copy it if they want.

I’m getting a lot of suggestions about using hydraulics to make it easier, faster and better.  My concern at this point in time is to prove that a wired recycled plastic block is a viable building material.  People a lot smarter than I am will come up with making the blocks faster and easier.  I’ll leave that up to them.

The good news is

I spent some money for some more materials.  I decided to use three wires for the new version of the blocks.  The size is the same.  But the new press has the outside wires closer inside and then I put in a middle wire to contain the middle bulge we get.

I’m trying to get the machine down in cost material wise.  I also want the materials to be as common as possible so that the presses can be made on site if necessary just about anywhere in the world.  I’m trying 11 gauge 2″ X 2″ square tubing for the floor and base end.  I hope this will be substantial enough to hold up over time.

If you look close you and see I”m using quarter inch spacers between the tubes for wire guides.  I believe this will simplify the compression phase because the tie wires will be lying out of the way.  The tie wires will still have to be attached to the ram.  But we won’t have to fight keeping them in the guides like we did with the original press design.

I’ve decided to put an eighth of an inch taper in each side to make removing the completed block easier.  The top has an 8 ” inside measurement.  And the bottom measures 7 3/4″ inside.

 We’ll be making blocks with the new design tomorrow if everything goes right.

It was quite a day.

Remember we started off with a trailer load of number three thru number seven plastic from the recycling center.  It turns out we had a lot of number one and it is more difficult to work with.  We discovered that number five was great.  We didn’thave any number six and seven, what we eventually want to use for the blocks.  Numbers one and two are valuable for recycling.  They give value to our blocks that isn’t desireable or necessary.  As it has been pointed out to me by others there are those out there that would love to find neatly bundled blocks worth thirty or so cents per lb at the street level recyclers.

We first tried to compress a block and then install the wire into the mold to secure the block.  That didn’t work.  Then we tried to install the wire without thinking it all through.  That worked better but it wasn’t any good. either.  The old adage about “learning more from our mistakes than our successes” is gospel when it comes to projects like this. 

We learned a couple of  things with those mistakes.  We needed to add more plastic to the mold to make a more dense block.  We also made up the rod I designed for tightening the wire.  That and making the loops in the wire at the ram end of the mold enabled us to tighten the wire very tight easily.

The trick to tighteing the wire is a loop big enough for the tightening tool to pass through.  The trick to the tightening tools is the slot in the end of the tool.  Basically the way it works is the tool is slid through the loop to a point about four inches after the wire has been pulled hand tight.  The groove end is placed on the wire and then the loose end is folded over the handle of the tool.  The tool pulls the wire through the loop with a lot pressure when the tool is pushed over the loop.

It’s so simple.  Yet it’s so efficient.

The finished block is a nominal 8″ X 8″ X 16″.  I beat it with a hammer, bounced it around.  I like it.  Then we drove the pickup up on it to see how it handles weight.

I’ll be the first to admit that the block is one of those things where beauty can only be in the eye of the beholder.  For me it is beautiful.  That’s because I see a solution to two problems facing us today.  Plastic pollution is a worldwide issue.  Another world wide issue is affordable shelter.  This block addresses both of those issues, it takes trash plastic and makes it into an affordable alternative building material.

I have proven I believe that this block can be produced in the third world’s worst circumstances.

Now I want to take it further.

I want to see a manual model of this machine that is self contained and built for durability.  I want to see that machine manufactured and distributed everywhere alternative housing is needed.

I want to see another model of this machine that is automated for use in the industrialized world. 

I would love to be part of all of the above and more.  But for me to do so is going to require financial assistance.  Any ideas for that kind of help is appreciated.

I wanted to attempt a bottle brick/plastic block tonight.  I was just too tired.  I’m going to try to hit it early in the morning and maybe we can get one just to see if it will work.

I tacked in the brace for the ram rod and it’s a little off.  So in the morning I will break the tacks and align it better.  I will add bracing and then attach the ram to the rod.  I still have to make the handle for the rod.  There’s a part of me that likes the idea of a steering wheel.  I’ll probably forgo that though and settle for a slip rod handle

The ram will never make contact with the end of the box.  But to get the density we think we’re going to need the force against this end will be like the ram hitting it.  That’s why I’ve put in all the steel.

Keep in mind that if this thing works this is open source.  So if a company wants to send a thousand of these to Haiti for instance then they can get the measurements from mine, have their smart minds modify it for efficiency and manufacturability, then they can have it made anywhere, India, China, Canada, USA.  Another thing is anyone can modify it and make it better.  I just hope that if they do they share it with the rest of us.

They offered me some free barrels.  They’re number two plastic but too large to process so they gave them to me.  My wife wants some rain barrels so that’s where they might go.  The metal ones are for the farm. 

You’re not seeing things.  There is some number one and number two plastics in with the three thru sevens.  Today’s spot price is $420.00 a ton for the one and two plastics, $150.00 a ton for the three thru sevens.

One of the things I’m trying to do with the block box is make it like someone would under more difficult circumstances.  So I’m using common tools, no fancy machine shop lathes, sheet metal shop presses, etc.  I’m also trying to use scrap stuff found around the shop.  So far the only thing I’ve purchased for the block box is the three foot ACME thread rod and nut, $69.00 with shipping.

The block box has to be made for high pressure.  Since I’m not an engineer I’m probably over building it.  And that’s okay, better that than having it break when a couple of thousand pounds of pressure is applied.

One of my concerns is the pathway for the tie wire in the block box.  The width of the box is eight inches, standard width for a building block made of concrete.  I had a fifty one inch piece of five inch channel.  That meant the block box would have a length of fifty one inches.  It also determined that the width between the tie wire would be five inches. 

 The first thing I did was bend the guides for the tie wires with my portable bender I use on the truck.

I found some two inch heavy wall square tubing.  It worked perfectly with the five inch channel to make the bottom of the block box.  I placed the tie wire guides on each side of the channel and three sixteenths or so below the face of the channel.  I welded bottoms up first.

  The tie wires will have to be able to slide down the box as the plastic is being compressed.  That’s why I have the guides in the bottom of the box and the gradual turns going up beyond the end of the box.  We’re not using anything but the tie wires to hold the plastic block’s shape. That’s all I got done today, a round trip to the recycling facility and a little cutting and welding.

One of the most common comments I get on this is about automating the process.  That’s for the smart people to figure out.  What I’m looking to do is provide a method that will work when the people are unskilled, electricity is unavailable. and they want to build a shelter with what they have available that’s cheap or free.

If you Google Haiti, President Clinton you will find a ton of stories about his visit to a recycling center where they use similiar technology to what I have here for making paper briquettes for charcoal cooking.  If they had a couple of machines like the block box they could also make blocks for building shelters to sell.

Another common comment is about the value of some plastics.  I believe the block box block can be made with literally trash plastics, film (shopping bags) and styrofoam.  We might have to have some bottles at the ends but everyting in between I believe can be the stuff that goes to the landfill.

I’m dumber than a rock when it comes to the internet bloggin stuff.  I hope to get smarter.  Until then if you want to contact me  harvey at harveylacey.com will work.  If you need to talk to me I’m in the book in Wylie Texas.

Quick math suggests one bottle brick will hold approximately ten and  a half twenty four bottle cases of empty one liter water bottles.  Approximately 600 bricks to build a twelve feet by twelve feet room with seven foot high walls.  One such home removes approximately 180,000 empty plastic bottles from the landfills.  That’s 7,500 cases of empty one liter bottles or approximately 6,400 cubic feet of space.  That’s almost the volume of two fifty three foot semi truck trailers, 7,600 cubic feet.  Look at it this way, if the bottles were crumpled to fifty percent volume arriving at the recycling center every truck load could provide the materials for one 144 square foot one room home.

The inspiration for this invention was a speech and later conversation with Ronald Omygon.  Ronald is an architect in Kenya.  His passion is holistic building methods that help the poor with sanitation, drinking water, and housing.  I told him at the meeting that I believed there had to be a way we could tackle the problems with plastic waste and poverty at the same time with the same product.  I just knew that there had to be a product that could be made with plastic refuse.  And that product could be made with simple machinery and the product would be best if it was a new building product that could be installed with local traditional methods.

A week after that meeting I was awakened out of sleep that night with the idea of baling plastic bottles.  I can’t take credit for the idea  because it came to me, I didn’t seek it out, it found me.  The idea was to compress one liter drinking bottles into a block the size of standard adobe brick that is used in the southwest of the United States.

I couldn’t go to sleep after that.  There was too much to think about, so many ideas.  I had to address how to keep the bricks from expanding and falling apart after being removed from the mold or press that manufactured them.  I had to address how and if they would take mortar as a method of joining them together for form a wall.  I also had to figure out the plastic could be isolated from the living area and the exterior elements once the walls were formed.  There was how to form doorways and window openings.  Roofs were another consideration.  And then there was the subsistance level manufacturing if necessary.

That last part, subsistance level manufacturing if necessary, was of critical importance to me.  That’s because I see most of our aid and charity being almost as much of a negative as it is positive once we get beyond emergency relief.  Aid and charity is a horizontal transaction in a world built on vertical transactions.  A lot of the time aid and charity teach help is on the way and you just have to wait for it.  I wanted the bottle brick to be more than that.  I wanted it to be a vertical impetus instead of the traditional horizontal one.

The subsistance level manufacturing is easy.  All I need is a mold or press.  The one I have built in my mind is a three sided affair.  The mold is four inches or so high, width is eight inches or thereabouts, and the length is about two feet even though the finished brick will only be sixteen inches long.  It will be made of steel, simple design.  The compression will be accomplished with leverage.  It will work a little like a tractor jack with its ratcheting action.  You move a lever about five feet long and that movement moves the compression plate an inch or so.  A stop holds the compression plate in the position and the lever is moved once again.  This is done until bottles are compressed into a firm brick about sixteen inches long.

There were two problems with mortar as I saw it.  The first thing was this kind of construction would be perfect for Haiti and Pakistan.  One of the reasons for the horrific destruction in their earthquakes was the mortar fails first and then the walls fall down.  The other was one of the problems with plastic and cement is they don’t bond without special polymers, expensive special polymers.

I had already decided that since I was laminating plastic bottles into a bale then maybe tying it together with wire might be the proven tried and true method.  And since one of the slickest things I had seen was using barbed wire for stabilizing earth bag construction then I could have not only a secure method for attaching the bottle bricks to each other with a system like they use in earth bag.  I would also greatly reduce the potential for damage in an earthquake.  The flexibility inherent in the bale and the plastic along with the slack in the wire method would allow movement and not collapse.

There was one other thing that got me excited about this idea.  That was one of the common methods of building in the places where I could see this being used was the use of plaster.  Plastering the inside walls would separate any bad stuff in a bottle brick from the inhabitants.  Plaster on the outside insure a longer life for the bottle bricks, even though they supposedly have a three to five hundred year life span in a land fill.

 The mold is like I described earlier with the addition of two quarter inch in diameter metal rods running parallel with the floor or bottom of the mold and on a center line of the mold.  The rods are to create a pathway for additional tie wires after the bale is removed from the mold.

Here is the way I see it working.  The first bottle is flattened and then placed horizontally in the mold.  First it is pierced with the rods in the middle and then it is slid down the rods to the end of the mold.  The same thing happens with the next bottle except that the bottom of the new bottle is at the open end of the first bottle.  Bottles are flattened and installd repeating this pattern.  The bottoms of the bottles are alternated as they are installed.  When the mold is full of bottles then the manual press is put in place.  The lever ratchets the press plate towards the closed end of the mold.  If the brick isn’t firm the pressure plate can be backed off and more bottles installed.  The compression is repeated until the brick is the right length and density.  At this point the brick is secured with wire similar to the way a bale of straw is secured.  The brick is removed from the mold and additional wire is placed in the two tunnels made by the steel rods.  Ideally there will be short tie wires placed during the building of the brick.  These wires will be placed so they will secure the horizontal wires placed in the tunnels.  Those ties wires will be used to secure the bricks to the stalilizing wires that run on top of each course.

Let’s build a small one room building using the bottle bricks.  We would start with laying out the perimeter, round is better, and two doorways.  The two doorways is important for one reason.  That reason is the purpose of vertical movement by the residents.  As times get better and they want to add a room they already have the doorway for it.

At the corners and edge of the doorways two re-bar pieces are driven into the ground.  This is where the courses stop and start.  Those ties at the ends of the bottle brick are tied to the re-bar uprights.  A short piece of re-bar is driven in at the end of the bottle brick.  The end of the re-bar stake is at the same height as the bottle brick.  The next bottle brick is placed in the same way.  It’s attached to the previous short stake and the new stake driven in at its end the same way.  This is repeated until the next doorway or corner is reached.  Two pieces of heavier gauge wire is placed between the two ends or doorways.  Barbwire would work good for this.  So would nine gauge wire for instance.  The heavy gauge wire is attached to the re-bar posts at each end.  It is then tied to each brick with the short ties that come out of the top of the bottle bricks, the ones that are attached insdie the bottle brick to the wires that go through the middle of the bottle brick.  Once that course is secured then the next course is placed starting with a half bottle brick of course.  These bricks are tied to the wire secured to the course below.

Every course is secured the same way.  It’s secured to the barbwire or heavier gauged wire below with the end tie wires.  It is then attached to the next heavey gauge or barbwire placed on top with the middle ties.

Keep in mind this is work in progress.  There will be changes and we might even find the finished product resembles little of what I’m proposing here.  That’s progress.  It’s also the reason I’ve went public so quickly with it.  I want this to be an open source product.  I want he participants to make it their own.

I have some thoughts that I’d like to share about my bottle brick concept.  One of them is most societies would find this system similar to their traditional methods with the exception of the tie wires and the blocks being made of plastic.

Another thing is the blocks will be light enough that women and children can handle them easily.  If the society allows it then there can be more participants in the building process.  It also means widows and single mothers can build their own housing if their society allows that.

This system offers more resistance to earthquakes than conventional mortar and block construction.  If the roof is made like an igloo then this design would also offer more protection from high winds because it would be more aerodynamic.

This is a beginning.  I can see recycling plants making bottle bricks designed for building retaining walls.  I can see subsidizing bottle bricks by government and industry because it not only recycles plastic waste, it offers opportunity and housing.  I can see bottle bricks being built that would offer armor protection for our troops.  Bullet proof glass is laminated plastic and glass.  A bottle brick is made by laminating you might say plastic and plastic.  Engineers are amazing.  One of them might be able to figure out how to use the bottle brick to stop bullets.

If you wish to to discuss this with me I’m in the book Wylie, Texas.  My email address is my first name at this web address.

I am very interested in critiques.   Consider this open source, a work in progress, dream the dream…

What would be the best thing ever though would be for the bottle brick to become recyclable itself.  When a bottle brick building is demolished the bottle bricks are recycled and used again.

Another aspect that excites me is the idea of it creating commerce.  There could be employment creating the bottle bricks.  The construction could also provide employment.  Procuring the materials, bottles, would also be employment and commerce.  Rooms could be bought and sold, rents could be arranged.  Wealth would be generated at all levels of involvement.

There is one and only one difference between communities as I see it.  Commerce, the business of business is what took Japan from desolation to wealth.  The same thing has happend to China.  Japan is a democracy and  China is communist.  But they both escaped poverty as a nation through commerce.  Suggesting poor countries can’t do the same is ignoring the most obvious thing of all.  We’re people first.