shopmade bricquette maker

[Mike Dempsey]

I have a possibility of getting a large bearing press at zero cost which has hardly been used. As a cabinet maker I have large quantities of sawdust and woodshavings created throughout the year. I can burn the stuff no problem as I have a top loading stove but in the summer when I am not burning I have to bag it up and store it or dump it.

I have a welding fabrication workshop near me and accesss to their offcuts skip and I am a good welder. My mate is also pretty good with designs and thinks this could be a goer.

Has anyone done this before and could post up some info/photos or knows of any links to plans etc?

I know it wont be as fast as a proper bricqetting machine but it will be a hell of a lot cheaper.

If it works out another mate is also a cabinetmaker with piles of sawdust/woodshavings who is very interested in the idea and is willing to help me.

[Stubby]

What would you use to bond the dust and shaving together ? I ask as I made one out of a bottle jack to press soaked news paper into bricks .I put them on my extension roof to dry them in the summer . They burnt fine but I thought it was more trouble and mess than it was worth .

[Mike Dempsey]

I thought that the lignin in the timber would bind it together. The press is rated at 25 tons which would probably be more than enough to compress it I would have thought.

[Justme]

I doubt 25 tonnes would be enough to create the heat & pressure needed to release the lignins.

[renewablejohn]

My commercial briquette press operates at 80 bar pressure to produce a 50 mm diameter pellet. From that you should be able to work back what diameter pellet you could expect from a 25 ton press.

[Chippy]

Recon 25t would do a good job, I tried to make them out of turnings with a tapered fabricated box 2 end plates and a g clamp to compress them,the only problem was getting them to release from the box without them breaking up.

Those that came out ok burnt hot and lasted about 15 mins.

Dont try to reuse pieces that fall off the briquette as these will not bond to unused chippings / sawdust.

Good luck with it

[Mike Dempsey]

I was thinking of about 3'' square and about 4 inches long for a finished briquette. The box would be fabricated from 6mm thick steel and would have a sliding plate at the bottom which could be slid out and the briquette could just be pushed out by hand when the plate was removed. I think I will make the box about 10'' deep and fill it to the top and try and compact it before I put it in the press. I wont get the press for a few weeks so I have a little time to play about with ideas. Thanks for everyones input so far

[gensetsteve]

I dont want to put a downer on it but you can buy 25kg of the stuff for £3 how many hrs are you going to work to make up the £3. Find someone that has spent 40k on a proper set up and swap your saw dust for some finished product.

[Stubby]

I dont want to put a downer on it but you can buy 25kg of the stuff for £3 how many hrs are you going to work to make up the £3. Find someone that has spent 40k on a proper set up and swap your saw dust for some finished product.

 

[Mike Dempsey]

There isn't anyone local to me who makes briquettes. The whole point of the exercise is to use up waste already in the workshop and instead of storing it in bags, to minimise the amount of space it takes up by converting it to briquettes. This is going to be done it the true spirit of British bodging by converting a machine into using it for another purpose. The press isn't going to cost me anything apart from 30 minutes of my time in going to pick it up. The steel plate I can get free or for pennies. I have 2 good metal chop saws and a mig welder. My hero is Fred Dibnah and I admired his skills , knowledge and ability to make anything from scrap. I don't know how long it would take to make briquettes with the press but I am not going into this to sell them, just use them in my stove myself and give some to a couple of mates who will help me churn them out. If it works quite well I may investigate how to automise the process but that is not for the first stage. Its all experimental at this stage and it may not work, who knows. If it doesn't work I can always flog the bearing press!