To The Seventh Generation

Dad had envisioned setting up a non-profit foundation at the ranch to host workshops centered around sustainable living. I'm envisioning something somewhat similar. I am interested in using the ranch as a place to build machines through open-source hardware and software that could not only be of practical use for ourselves and potentially provide a source of income but could also be deployed in other communities to improve the quality of life, provide a source of income, and provide a valuable learning opportunity that could go beyond the repair and replication of the built machine. Having experience in taking on projects at the ranch with rudimentary tools and comparing that effort and effectiveness to that of construction companies with very nice equipment demonstrated to me the progress that can be achieved with the rights tools.

A project that I have been reflecting on is a compressed earth block home. While our log home is nice maintenance has been clear with staining requirements and bug and woodpecker issues, and difficult to keep well as well as potential future issues including fire and water damage.

Compressed earth blocks have been used in Mexico and developing countries for a long time and in the United States has mostly been limited to the Southwestern states. I attended a workshop during the summer of 2011 and have been very interested in experimenting with this building practice. The guy in the video below taught our workshop.

Compressed earth blocks are cheap to produce, enable relatively rapid construction in part due to the uniform size of the blocks, are environmentally friendly as they generally require minimal transportation and are not fired in a kiln, are strong as their compressive strength can exceed the required strength of concrete blocks, does not mold, does not burn, is not damaged by water, insect resistant, does not transfer noise well, and essentially acts as a heat sink for the entire home. A coworker told me about spending the night in a cabin that filled the space between the interior and exterior walls with dirt and after stoking the fire and going to bed on a -30 degree night they woke up to the house being 90 degrees. Compressed stabilized earth blocks require a mixture of clay and sand and can utilize a stabilizing agent such as cement or lime which is then compressed into a block. The compressive force required to form the block can be delivered in manual or hydraulically power machines. After watching these machines at the workshops, the hydraulic press appeared to clearly be the way to go unless very low cost labor was available.

You can order all kinds of crazy machines like CEB presses through https://www.alibaba.com so I'm curious how this retailer works and if it is difficult or expensive to order something large like this (https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Bata-Press-Compressed-Earth-CEB-Brick_62183455984.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.27.64637490wGYBp9 ) from China. I also looked into buying a domestic machine but they appear unreasonably expensive https://aectearthblock.com/products. See this page for details regarding my research into buying a large machine internationally from Alibaba.

CEB press models are available through Alibaba we discussed the following pros and cons:

• Pros

  • Eliminate the time required to build one

  • Eliminate the need to buy or build additional tools to build one

  • Reduce the risk that the machine does not work due to inability to understand or perform the tasks associated with building one versus a purchased machine not working

  • Can buy models that come with many forms that can be used to make various blocks

• Cons

  • Increased difficulty associated with repairing the machine or replacing custom parts

  • Increased costs (excluding labor)

  • Risk associated with buying a machine internationally

  • Dealing with international customs

  • Dealing with the logistics of shipping

  • Avoid opportunity to improve our machining skills

  • Avoid opportunity to consider building these machines for sale

Scharf and I decided to push ahead with building our own press. We also discussed that if we eventually tried to incorporate CEB blocks into service work in remote areas then we anticipate building a machine being more practical and provides an educational opportunity.

Alternatively, when I asked the instructor for a recommendation he mentioned that there are companies that build these machines, he suggested that I search for plans online. I came across an organization called Open Source Ecology in Missouri which has been working with people around the world on open source designs for fundamental machines and I really admire their philosophy and what they are trying to accomplish.

Their design for a compressed earth block press appears to be quite promising as the limiting factor appears to be the ability to feed material into the machine.

On their website (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/How_to_Build_the_4_Machines_in_a_Basic_Workshop) they indicate that to build their compressed earth block machine, tractor, soil pulverizer, and power cube requires the following tools:

• MIG welder,

• acetylene torch,

• magnetic drill,

• 15 amp and

• 5 amp grinders,

• and an abrasive 14" metal cutoff saw.

The power cube powers the CEB press and the tractor with a gas engine and the tractor uses the soil pulverizer to load the soil into the CEB press . Alternatively to building our own tractor and soil pulverizer we could rent a skid loaded and implement for this. However for more efficient production they recommend the addition of:

• a CNC torch table,

• 120 ton ironworker for shearing and punching holes,

• a CNC milling machine,

• a drill press with a 2" hole drilling capacity,

• a 200 amp MIG welder,

• and an acetylene torch.

Of these tools we are missing the magnetic drill, CNC torch table, ironworker, and the CNC milling machine.

The magnetic drill can be easily purchased and potentially the CNC milling machine if the inexpensive versions are of sufficient quality however the other tools are quite expensive and therefore we should consider building our own.

Also, to build the torch table and milling machine requires custom 3D printed parts and therefore would require a 3D printer. Scharf and I worked on building one and it works well except we had a lot of issues inserting the custom printer parameters into the free software.

The induction furnace shown could be used to cast metal parts or roll bars and sheets and perhaps we could look into buying one or building one but as of now I just intend on buying metal from the local Pacific Steel and Recycling plant.

Also, concerning the ironworker, there is not sufficient documentation to replicate this machine.

OSE has discussed getting a design for a CNC torch table out soon but we are still waiting on this.

In addition to building the CEB press we must also consider how the material for the blocks are to be mixed and stabilized. It appears that OSE is working on incorporating this into CEB press as shown: https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Soil_Mixer_2019?fbclid=IwAR1rqTF6pYnn1kRzDtSN3exYdsMw00AZ1vMxL1GEmMGFEEQD0jqo-r3sp88. This version is still under development and has not been prototyped.

I looked into a magnetic drill and if we don't mind a cheap Chinese version then these seemed to be the best deal that I could find:

• Cheapest 1350 Watt version ($200): https://www.ebay.com/itm/J1C-25-1350W-500-RPM-Magnetic-Drill-Press-1-Boring-3372-LBS-Magnet-Force/223801657554?

• Cheapest 1680 Watt version ($270): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-Magnetic-Drill-Press-MD13-MD25-MD50-Mining-Stable-Welding/233285390901?hash=item3650e49235:m:mz8S12IgE7FY75htNYV2jfw

A spreadsheet comparison various models can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1m2eCEGdR1TqPGn6RSa7Bm38Lf220UPNKYUmUlXViVHc

The 3D printer is the first tool that we have attempted to build at this point. Apart from organizing the wiring we have completed the build but we are having issues with the software. See this page for additional details.

Scharf and I discussed the option of building an ironworker to build the CEB press. Although in many cases this machine would provide for a faster means of shearing metal rather than cutting it and for creating holes by punching them rather than drilling them while also avoiding replacing drill bits, this machine would be expensive, take up quite a bit of space, is very heavy and therefore difficult to move and assemble, and there does not appear to be sufficient documentation to replicate this machine. I emailed the founder of OSE and he said that it has not been documented well and they are not using the latest version since they took it to destructive testing.

We are in the research and brainstorming phase of the ironworker project. See this page for more details.

Scharf and I discussed various options to create a circuit board for the CEB press including paying a fabrication house to make it, milling it, or etching it. We decided to go with milling our own board since basic PCB milling machines are relatively cheap, etching requires using various chemicals, milling is a fast process, and the milling machine can be used for other craft projects in addition to PCB boards.

Scharf bought a milling machine. See this page for more details.

After reviewing the latest version of the CEB press it doesn't appear that the later versions of the CEB press require a custom milled circuit board and therefore we may not need this for this machine.

I was thinking that we could modify our log splitter to make CEB blocks before we build the CEB press. We could then build a small CEB wall or pavers and decide from there what we think of CEBs. Scharf and I designed this modification (https://drive.google.com/file/d/16QL_L8f_Spho7kzxo86PhxcAkiz4QWYN/view?usp=sharing) as shown below and we have bought the sheet metal for this.

Having a CNC torch table would definitely be handy for cutting the parts for the CEB press machine. It looks like buying one is a bit out of the question since a table that can handle full size sheets of metal starting around $7,500. Marcin estimated that the OSE version will cost around $1,000 but they don't have a design ready yet. There are however other DIY versions or kits which may be reasonable but as of now we are planning to wait until documentation on the latest version being available next summer. See this page for more details.

For the powercube Marcin recommended either version 6 or 7.10. Version 6 uses a 28 hp engine although version 7.10 uses a 16 hp engine. Marcin also said that they are working on a new version that will utilize a Changfa Diesel engine for longevity. Scharf wants to start on an existing version rather than wait for the new version so he can get going working on something. However, since our log splitter has a 15 horsepower engine which is comparable to the version 7.10 powercube I think we could potentially just modify the hoses from that to use since similarly to the CEB press it also works by pumping hydraulic fluid through a large cylinder.

To Do

• Powercube

  • Decide whether we want to wait for a design that incorporates the diesel engine

  • See if we can modify the 15 hp engine from the log splitter to run the CEB press

  • Marcin recommended version 17.10 of the powercube

• CNC Torch Table (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/CNC_Torch_Table_v19.10)

  • Decide if we want to wait for the full design documentation to be released and testing to be conducted or proceed with what documentation is available

  • If we proceed prior to full design documentation being available we can:

    • Build table

    • Build universal axes and mount to table

    • Build control panel

• CEB Press (https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Soil_Mixer_2019)

  • Decide if we want to wait for the full design documentation to be released and testing to be conducted or proceed with what documentation is available

  • If we proceed prior to full design documentation being available we can start building some parts but we may want to hold off on the parts that we can fabricate from the CNC torch table until we complete that machine