How to Make Raw Bricks Before Going into Kiln
 

To make bricks from clay, there are traditionally five steps involved:
1.  Obtaining the Clay

Making bricks in China many years before was a labor intensive process. In the early brickyards, a shovel was the only way to dig clay.  Of course, a good source of clay had to be found, and it helped to locate the clay source near an established transportation corridor.  Damp or wet clay can be very heavy, so it is difficult to transport for long distances using man or horse power.  Dried bricks are also heavy, and to transport large numbers of them, a railroad or river was extremely beneficial.

After being dug, the clay was aged over the winter.  Brick making in China was a seasonal job, once winter arrived, operations essentially shut down. When the clay was exposed to the changing winter temperatures, it made the clay easier to work with.  So each year, bricks were made from the past season’s clay.

2.  Making the “Batter”

 If you have ever dug clay and experimented with making bricks, you will find that clay is not always a uniform consistency.  Sometimes small pebbles or rocks can get mixed in.  The clay had to be screened or checked for these undesirable elements.  The clay was also mixed with sand, which helped increase the strength of the bricks.  I am unaware of what sort of clay-to-sand ratios the old brickyards used, but in some of the ones I have made, I have used about a 4 to 1 ratio.

3.  Shaping the Raw Bricks

Once the raw ingredients were combined into the brick mixture, they had to be moulded into the proper shape for bricks.  In China, most common bricks were made into a rectangular shape about 240mm*115*53.  Not that all the old brick makers followed this standard, but they were close. 

Balls or lumps of clay were “dusted” with sand and pushed into rectangular wooden forms.  Any excess clay could easily be removed at this point. Again, if you have worked with damp or wet clay, you know how sticky it is.  The sand dusting helps prevent the new clay brick from sticking to the sides of the mould.

4.  Drying the Raw Bricks

After being formed, the new raw clay brick still had to be dried.  A wet brick, if not handled properly, could easily be disfigured, rendering it useless.  Rows of the new wet bricks were laid out in the sun or in special buildings to dry.  These special buildings had stacks of shelves in them and a roof overhead to prevent rain from damaging the drying bricks.  If you see old postcards or photographs of the brickyards, you can see rows and rows of these drying sheds.

Rain was an enemy to the early brick maker.  If the rain was heavy enough, it could wipe out an entire batch of unprotected drying bricks. Raw bricks would harden after several good days of drying, getting turned about midway through the process to ensure both the top and bottom sides dried out.