Production

Most cement blocks for walls here use a block that is 18.5 cm tall x 12 cm wide x 40 cm long. These blocks are mostly to fill space in the wall. The load is primarily borne by cement posts and cross beams.
I have a Cinva Ram press that presses blocks 13 cm tall x 16 cm wide x 35  cm long.My African mason friends already think my Cinva blocks are not tall enough nor long enough.

I need some advice Geoffrey, regarding Interlocking Soil Stabilized
bricks/blocks. I wonder if you can shed some light on the topic.

I know there are bricks in Thailand that are called Block Prasaan and
the Thai Standard is 25*12.5*10cm.

Then there are some other presses around that are 30*15*10cm.

I do not care who invented what/when, and what patents are pending over
what design and/or who made the first press to any of these dimensions,
after all they are all advanced redesigns of a CINVA Ram press.

I found you in the Internet and I have a question about the Soeng Thai Interlocking Compressed Earth Block Press Model BP6. Witch pressure is necessary to compress the earth to the height of 10 cm? Thank you very much. Best regards

Hello Geoffrey,

I know it has been awhile since hearing from us. Have been very busy and a little discouraged with the testing of the bricks and the different soils. I am sending three different soil samples that I have been working with to arrive to the perfect sample …if that is possible.

We have a question about a page in the construction manual.
What is meant by cement (mortar) in the context:
Material usage per square meter
Blocks 33.33 blocks
Cement (mortar) 3.13kg
Sand 7.50litre
Soil Dust 0.3kg

The way I have understood the construction I would think this
refers to the 2cm bed of rich cement at the base of the wall.
Is this correct?

Could you recommend a mix for us to use based on your experience in Indonesia? We are
currently carrying out soil tests to confirm clay content.

How long do you leave the blocks to cure and how is this usually done? For example, are the
blocks stacked and covered in tarpaulin?

It is hard to get sand with out salt, so I guess we would have to add cement, other wise we will have too much clay in the mix.

How do we determine the clay, sand, cement mix?

I have a quick question on curing one brick at a time for sample purposes, ¿can we bake a brick in a browning bag with moisture for a few hours instead of waiting a week to cure in water? What do you think?