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There are many forms of brick press, a few for hand power, but the most adapted for belt-driving; although in recent years hydraulic presses have come more and more into use, especially in Germany and America. The essential parts of a brick press are: (1) a box or frame in which the clay is moulded; (2) a plunger or die carried on the end of a ram, which gives the necessary pressure; (3) an arrangement for pushing the pressed brick out of the moulding box. Such presses are generally made of iron throughout, although other metals are used, occasionally, for the moulds and dies. The greatest variations found in brick presses are in the means adopted for actuating the ram; and many ingenious mechanical devices have been applied to this end, each claiming some particular advantage over its predecessors. In many recent presses, especially where semi-plastic clay is used, the brick is pressed simultaneously from top and bottom, a second ram, working upwards from beneath, giving the additional pressure.
Although the best bricks are still pressed from tempered or plastic clay, there has recently been a great development in the manufacture of semi-plastic or dust-made bricks, especially in those districts where shales are used for brickmaking. These semi-plastic bricks are stamped out of ground shale that has been sufficiently moistened with water to enable it to bind together. The hard-clay, or shale, is crushed under heavy rollers in an iron grinding-pan having a perforated bottom through which the crushed clay passes, when sufficiently fine, into a small compartment underneath. This clay powder is then delivered, by an elevator, into a sieve or screen, which retains the coarser particles for regrinding. Sets of rollers may also be used for crushing shales that are only moderately hard, the ground material being sifted as before. The material, as fed into the mould of the press, is a coarse, damp powder which becomes adhesive under pressure, producing a so-called "semi-plastic" brick. The presses used are similar to those employed for plastic clay, but they are generally more strongly and heavily built, and are capable of applying a greater pressure.
The semi-plastic method has many advantages where shales are used, although the bricks are not as strong nor as perfect as the best "plastic" bricks. The method, however, enables the brickmaker to make use of certain kinds of clay-rock, or shale, that would be impracticable for plastic bricks; and the weathering, tempering and "ageing" may be largely or entirely dispensed with. The plant required is heavier and more costly, but the brickyard becomes more compact, and the processes are simpler than with the "plastic" method.
The drying of bricks, which was formerly done in the open, is now, in most cases, conducted in a special shed heated by flues along which the heated gases from the kilns pass on their way to the chimney. It is important that the atmosphere of the drying-shed should be fairly dry, to which end suitable means of ventilation must be arranged (by fans or otherwise). If the atmosphere is too moist the surface of the brick remains damp for a considerable time, and the moisture from the interior passes to the surface as water, carrying with it the soluble salts, which are deposited on the surface as the water slowly evaporates. This deposit produces the "scum" already referred to. When the drying is done in a dry atmosphere the surface quickly dries and hardens, and the moisture from the interior passes to the surface as vapour, the soluble salts being left distributed through the whole mass, and consequently no "scum" is produced. Plastic bricks take much longer to dry than semi-plastic; they shrink more and have a greater tendency to warp or twist.
The burning or firing of bricks is the most important factor in their production; for their strength and durability depend very largely on the character and degree of the firing to which they have been subjected. The action of the heat brings about certain chemical decompositions and re-combinations which entirely alter the physical character of the dry clay. It is important, therefore, that the firing should be carefully conducted and that it should be under proper control. For ordinary bricks the firing atmosphere should be oxidizing, and the finishing temperature should be adjusted to the nature of
