WOW !!! Congratulations !! Watching you 7 min video I learn more usefull press mechanisms than 6 months in the university calculating vectors and forces without practical applications!!! thank you!
Hello Sebastien, I am from Kenya. Were you able to make a briquette press? I am really interested as I am just starting but don't have the cash to buy the real expensive stuff
Lee, I built one of your compound presses and then made a 9 piston square mold! Works great and saves a ton of time! Build the mold from and old pallet! I shared the video with you but you have to approve it to show up here! Thanks for the inspiration!
As much as I appreciate the thought and work that goes into making the presses and demonstrating them for the video, I am utterly floored by my own ignorance at Mr. Hite's revelation at the end of the video. You can make briquette balls by hand. Dip, squash, dry. That's it. End result is a big hopper full of burnable fuel balls, no materials required save water and whatever fuel you're using. It's so simple.
I just scoured the internet for a smart press and kept finding these elaborate contraptions requiring bottle jacks and scissor jacks and portable drills. I knew there was a way to make it small, powerful and easy. Thanks for the design - my dust collector is full and this will make winter a lot less expensive.
Great video and idea. Did not know you could generate 2 k pound on that compound lever press. Outstanding. And the idea about just making the paper balls by hand, letting them dry and they will work just as well? Well, that was mind blowing. Always thought you needed a press to make the briquets. Will try it out. Thanks for sharing the knowledge and video.
I've watched a few dozen RUclips videos on briquette presses and all of them were either too complex, or too costly. This is a great design and I'll be building one this spring. Thanks, Lee!
+Alberta Bushcrafter You're most welcome. This press has worked out pretty good. I receive email from builders all over the world, and it seems to have been trouble free and work well for them. There are a number of options for the mold so be sure to scan the manual for biomass molds. drive.google.com/open?id=0B12WsCOCGAvKTkRFQ0pNR3NiZzg&authuser=0 Good luck with the project. Lee
Good question: I have found that hot water or even warm water helps considerably to breakdown the paper into pulp. Newspaper dissolves rather easily in warm water but the paper with a hard finish from magazines seems almost impossible to dissolve, even when in small chunks. Of course heat can be hard to come by in some locations. I would recommend separating the sheets by hand then soaking in a black colored pail of water left in the sun for several days. Not a great answer but it should help.
Good question. By volume using wet feedstock. Soak sawdust or wood chips for maybe 10 to 20 minutes to allow for saturation then drain the water. Power stir B&W newspaper into hot tap water (not scalding) with a power drill using a paint stir with stir veins. From dry newspaper to paper pulp in about 5 minutes. Drain and mix the wet proportions, and add water for final mixture. Always do the hand squeeze and shake test to verify a good mixture. Looking forward to seeing your new press design.
Hi Lee, Thanks very much for sharing this short very informative to the point instruction video, and all the relative PDF's building instructions, it's very much appreciated by many throughout the world.
Really good job on this tutorial. while watching I had the idea of adding two guide rails to the platform and making multiple mold sets to increase production rate / reduce time to process an entire batch. I think it would require a second person though. I'm definitely building one for spring time. Thanks for the information.
Thanks and over the years people like yourself have made tweaks and improvements for their specific usage. Experimenting with various configurations can produce good results. Best of success with the project.
I guess I will have to wait to get some either used cooking oil (will have to check with the wife about this) and/or doing an oil change in my gas car (doesn't need it yet as I just did it). Water and oil don't mix so I guess that would definitely reduce the "sticking" issue. Love producing more than one at a time! It saves TONS of time this way! Just add more support 2x4s on the base rails. Otherwise plywood bends and they come out uneven!
Thanks again Lee, wonderful work you're doing. I'll be building the micro press this weekend. I have a small fishless aquaponics(aka peeponics) system and have to harvest handfuls of duckweed from it daily. I've been letting some dry out to test it's flammability and it's burns pretty well. I can't wait to make a briquette out of it.
@artelagro Thanks for the great feedback Garth. I saw your video and you sure have made good use of that paper. BTW, we are currently developing a whole new family of molds for use with that press that do not require the use of PVC. We should have them done and the documentation completed in another week or two. They will be on the web site. Keep up the good work. Lee
Nice to hear they have found a good home. I have heard bits and pieces about the press being for sale in developing countries but I do not have any specific info on that. I believe they are used to provide income for small villages.
Thanks for the feedback and nice set of instructional videos. Wonderful gardens and it looks like you do not have a deer problem either :) We have received a number of emails about modifications to the press by the homemade cheese folks, by the compressed earth bricks (CEB) aka earthen bricks folks, the seed briquette folks, and the people making homemade cider. As you found the press is easily modified to accommodate different needs.
Outstanding idea, thanks for all the good work on this and for doing the video. In case it helps I have had good success with soaking wooden molds in used motor oil for about a day, after drying of course. The oil helps reduce the friction from wet sticky wood which helps with ejection and the expansion issue. Nice work!
I was looking for a tofu press and wound up here. Initially just searched for lever press, then figured I'd try "Dutch style lever press" as cheese making isn't too far from tofu making tbh. then found this video.
Good question. I should have provided more explanation about the bottom support plate. The press can generate 12-14,000 pounds of force and the 2x6 is deliberately sized to provide a spring to prevent other parts from failing. The original design used a much stronger plate. The 2x6 must be good quality and void of cracks or failure can occur. If you want a less flexible plate just screw another 2x6 to the bottom of the existing plate and position it length-wise between the legs on the bottom.
If I could throw an Idea at you for your next design. It seems to me that a knee action press like the old knee action mortiser, would be ideal. You would have an increasing mechanical advantage as the stroke progressed. So not much force when starting to squish out the excess water, but at the end, when the "knee" is almost straight, a tremendous force would be available.
Sure, no problem. Local material varies considerably around the world. I find people use whatever they have locally available like metal rods, metal pipe, nuts & bolts if they have them. A metal rod with a split pin is a great idea. I'll add that to the manual. Thanks for the suggestion
super video, we are very much interested to use it in our small woodwork company in The Gambia, West-Africa. We have to di it with very small means. My question is: is it possible to press briquettes from sawdust and water only? Or do we need some kind of binder? I heard somebody is using ols motoroil for that purposose? do you have any suggestions for us? The sawdust and woodchips come from the African Mahogony and teak trees, and sometimes white wood.
Hi Lee, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I am about to build one press for our school. how did you do the mold plunger? how about the base plate? Again thanks for your help.
Yes, for a wet sawdust mixture you will need a binder like paper pulp or whatever you can find that will act as a good binder. Finding a good binder and a mixture that burns well is one of the largest challenges in briquetting. Don’t get discouraged. Constructing a press and a mold is much easier that experimenting to learn what formulation works well. That step can take a while. Motor oil is a lubricant and definitely not a good binder.
If you happen to have banana plants available we did research on using banana plant waste as a burnable briquette and as a binder. It is not a good burner but if you can grind the stalk into small fibers, the fibers make a decent binder for sawdust. See the report on the web site (Feasibility_Biomass_Fuel_Briquettes_from_Banana_Plant_Waste.pdf)
Good question. I have not had any experience pressing duckweed but you might ask Richard Stanley at the Legacy Foundation. Richard has an enormous amount of experience with a wide variety of material and might have some advice.
Unfortunately wet sawdust will not bind together and motor oil is definitely not a binder. On the other hand, a commercial high-pressure press for dry sawdust will heat the mixture sufficiently to soften or melt the lignin causing good binding.
Im about ready to make my first briquettes. I would like to know, when you say 80/20 mixture of sawdust paper, is that by weight or volume? wet or dry? etc. I hope to have an interesting press design to share with you.
Thank you for your quick answer. I was hoping it could work without paper - we can't find enough paper in The Gambia to mix with our mountain of sawdust and woodchips. If you have any idea where to find a solution for us please let me know. It is such a waste of good material especially when you consider the fact that Gambians use firewood for cooking - they buy it every day and we would be glad to invent a product to reduce our mountain and to reduce the cutting of wood.
Hi, I built the braced version of the last demo. The instructions were very easy to follow and this was easy to build. I decided to add an additional brace along the longest diagonal on one side, as the single brace was not enough to keep the frame square during pressing. I also used 5/16" bolts instead of 3/8," okay for most of the joins but not for the one at the highest pressure point (easily bent that 5/16" bolt). I calculated that to exert 2000 lbs at the highest pressure point you would need to use only 50 pounds of force as the end of the lever. The machine delivered the 2000 pounds but when I applied more, the force cracked the member that presses against the briquette piston (so don't do that or replace that member with a stronger material). I also noticed that the angle of that member was always changing depending upon the position of the hand lever and so I was always having to align the piston to keep it going straight. This was a good learning experience and probably the best you will get if your resources are limited (this machine made very good briquettes), but I am experimenting with other designs and will probably settle on something else.
Hi Suzy. Nice feedback. Have you progressed in your search for a more suitable design for your needs, if so how does it differ from the braced version / I have just built the braced version and have noticed the same sort of flex you experienced. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Lee Thanks for putting the effort into designing these presses and producing the video. I built mine from a large pallet to try and replicate how it could be done with minimal resources. As you point out they can be built with very basic hand tools, the most sophisticated being the drill bit for the holes, although these could be done with a hot steel rod if necessary. BTW I was directed to your site after seeing the video posted posted by Pauline Martin. Just thought she deserved a mention for her video.
You're welcome! Thanks much for the feedback. Great idea to use a pallet as a typical resource. I have always been amazed at the innovative approach by builders.
Hi Lee, Can I suggest a simple little modification to the double lever press for your consideration. i.e. Replace the long bolts with plain round rod with small holes for split pins and washers at the ends. much cheaper and easier to obtain. Garth
Not sure it matters a great deal? I have used both new and used motor oil. In addition, I have received email from press builders that use cooking oil. I suspect whatever is readably available and most economical influences most decisions.
Hi! I've read the PDFs you have available, and watched the videos but i can't find wood in the correct size. I was wondering if the parts can be assembled from two halves each. In that case, can i use plywood to make each half? Best regards, and congratulations!!!
Yes, I certainly expect that should work. Glue well two pieces of 3/4 inch ply. I have never done this so I would appreciate learning what you find.. Thanks for the question
I believe that i won't get 3/4 inch, standard plys here come up to 18mm. Is it ok? Will that 2.1mm difference interfere with the function? Best regards! And thank you for your fast answer
Excellent informative video, thank you. My press to your design has now turned out at least one ton of briquettes of various shapes and materials. I have responded with my video 'paper brick.asf' which shows how readily it can be adapted to suit two very different materials. Keep up the good work. Garth
Lee, what kind of oil do you soak it in? Cooking oil? Motor Oil? Veggie Oil? I'm an Electric Car nut (see my other channel Rocketmaker10000) so I don't always have a bunch of used motor oil laying around to soak wood in. I can save the oil from my next gas car oil change then I won't have to drive the EV over to the reclaimation center.... :)
HOLA SOY DOCENTE DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA Y ME GUSTARIA APLICAR ESTE SISTEMA CON MIS NIÑOS Y DESARROLLAR UN PROYECTO PRODUCTIVO. NECESITO INFORMACIÓN DE COSTOS, Y DATOS EXACTOS DE LOS DISOLVENTES O COMBUSTIBLES PARA MEZCLAR PAPEL RECICLADO CON ASERRÍN. SE LO AGRADERÉ.
This is to pick up on, and add to, the comment by ELHigh below on making a ball by hand, no tools. I am interested in TLUD, or char-making stoves, and the larger briquettes are not well suited for such stoves. I had a chance a year ago to make some "balls", but after a while ended up doing something a little different. I would pick up a handful with the left hand, squeeze, and pass to the right hand for a final squeeze. When I got rolling I could do the left and right hand squeezes at the same time. I believe that each "ball" needed two hands. Maybe some could find a way to do two at once, with only one squeeze per ball. Smaller than the balls shown, but that was OK for my type of stove. I think at least as fast as the two handed, large ball size. The "turd shapes" (can't think of a better descriptor for this shape) dried in a day and fired fine. My question is whether anyone knows of a faster approach. Can't be cheaper, unless it is faster. My conclusion was that the human hand is a really remarkable "tool".
That is pretty cool, but why would you not just burn wood instead of making wood into saw dust and then making these blocks? I like the idea, but I do not see this as practical for people with land, is this correct? Is this just for people in deforested areas? Where would ordinary people reliably get sawdust for making these? All good questions. Thanks -- TMFA
Lee ,I built from your design for Micro Compound Lever Press Notch Version .I lenthened the vert. and .horz. members. Reason being I make Self Watering Grow Barrels out of 55 gal. barrels.I will be teaching a class at our Garden Insight days at county extension.Comes in real handy in the last process,thanks for the design.Check out my video if you would like.You will see what I mean by handy.It is in 8 short parts. See ya.
@MsPancha2010 I cut a 3 inch square to the proper length and shaved to a circle, first using a jack plain and then with a small finishing plain. It goes rather quickly. Sand to finish. The groves in the base plate can be done using a hand gouge or with a V-Grove router and bit. Best to use a router table for that. Email me at leland.hite@gmail.com if you have additional questions. Good luck with the project
Hi Rafael, Glad the press is working out. U can send pix to leland.hite@gmail.com Tnx much. The crusher is the more difficult question and more difficult than most realize. The grinder I have works well for some materials but doesn’t crush or chop, it grinds between two concrete surfaces. See my site for details. The chopper grinder I am most hopeful for is one Richard Stanley is developing at the Legacy Foundation. Check with Richard for details. Thanks
Yet again a paper briquettes video showing paper / card and sawdust . 99 percent of us have cardboard coming out of our ears but don’t have access to bags of sawdust !!!!!!!!
WOW !!! Congratulations !! Watching you 7 min video I learn more usefull press mechanisms than 6 months in the university calculating vectors and forces without practical applications!!! thank you!
I was so impressed that I made one 2 years ago, but I'm only just about to try it having found a suitable wood source.
After 11 years still being the best video
Hey Thanks. Glad to learn it remains useful.
A couple of years later, thanks a lot for sharing this idea! I will for sure try and make one :) Greetings from Denmark
Hello Sebastien, I am from Kenya. Were you able to make a briquette press? I am really interested as I am just starting but don't have the cash to buy the real expensive stuff
Lee, I built one of your compound presses and then made a 9 piston square mold! Works great and saves a ton of time! Build the mold from and old pallet! I shared the video with you but you have to approve it to show up here! Thanks for the inspiration!
As much as I appreciate the thought and work that goes into making the presses and demonstrating them for the video, I am utterly floored by my own ignorance at Mr. Hite's revelation at the end of the video.
You can make briquette balls by hand. Dip, squash, dry. That's it. End result is a big hopper full of burnable fuel balls, no materials required save water and whatever fuel you're using. It's so simple.
this is the best video on briquette presses on RUclips I've found! thanks!
+ohvnaq Thanks, glad it was helpful
after watching the whole video, I realize you ARE indeed a wizard thank you for the concept... I LOVE it.
I just scoured the internet for a smart press and kept finding these elaborate contraptions requiring bottle jacks and scissor jacks and portable drills. I knew there was a way to make it small, powerful and easy. Thanks for the design - my dust collector is full and this will make winter a lot less expensive.
Lawrence, Great, glad to hear this meets your needs. Thanks for the note.
Lee
Lawrence Hudson Thanks
Hi Tony, Thanks for the kind words.
Glad it has been useful. It's a work in progress :)
I just built the notch version. The briquettes are great! Thanks for sharing the design and for all the work you did in getting it out there.
You're welcome and nice to know it worked out well. Good luck with the rest of the project.
Brilliant, thank you for sharing this information
Great video and idea. Did not know you could generate 2 k pound on that compound lever press. Outstanding. And the idea about just making the paper balls by hand, letting them dry and they will work just as well? Well, that was mind blowing. Always thought you needed a press to make the briquets. Will try it out. Thanks for sharing the knowledge and video.
I've watched a few dozen RUclips videos on briquette presses and all of them were either too complex, or too costly. This is a great design and I'll be building one this spring. Thanks, Lee!
+Alberta Bushcrafter You're most welcome. This press has worked out pretty good. I receive email from builders all over the world, and it seems to have been trouble free and work well for them. There are a number of options for the mold so be sure to scan the manual for biomass molds.
drive.google.com/open?id=0B12WsCOCGAvKTkRFQ0pNR3NiZzg&authuser=0
Good luck with the project.
Lee
Good question: I have found that hot water or even warm water helps considerably to breakdown the paper into pulp. Newspaper dissolves rather easily in warm water but the paper with a hard finish from magazines seems almost impossible to dissolve, even when in small chunks. Of course heat can be hard to come by in some locations. I would recommend separating the sheets by hand then soaking in a black colored pail of water left in the sun for several days. Not a great answer but it should help.
Thank you for the quick and thorough response.
Good question. By volume using wet feedstock. Soak sawdust or wood chips for maybe 10 to 20 minutes to allow for saturation then drain the water. Power stir B&W newspaper into hot tap water (not scalding) with a power drill using a paint stir with stir veins. From dry newspaper to paper pulp in about 5 minutes. Drain and mix the wet proportions, and add water for final mixture. Always do the hand squeeze and shake test to verify a good mixture. Looking forward to seeing your new press design.
Good job mr hite
Thank you! Happy briquetting . . .
Thanks so much for taking the time to upload this. Fantastic
Hi Lee, Thanks very much for sharing this short very informative to the point instruction video, and all the relative PDF's building instructions, it's very much appreciated by many throughout the world.
Really great video! Thank you for taking the time to make it and put it up to share.
Really good job on this tutorial. while watching I had the idea of adding two guide rails to the platform and making multiple mold sets to increase production rate / reduce time to process an entire batch. I think it would require a second person though. I'm definitely building one for spring time. Thanks for the information.
Thanks and over the years people like yourself have made tweaks and improvements for their specific usage. Experimenting with various configurations can produce good results. Best of success with the project.
I guess I will have to wait to get some either used cooking oil (will have to check with the wife about this) and/or doing an oil change in my gas car (doesn't need it yet as I just did it). Water and oil don't mix so I guess that would definitely reduce the "sticking" issue. Love producing more than one at a time! It saves TONS of time this way! Just add more support 2x4s on the base rails. Otherwise plywood bends and they come out uneven!
Thanks again Lee, wonderful work you're doing. I'll be building the micro press this weekend. I have a small fishless aquaponics(aka peeponics) system and have to harvest handfuls of duckweed from it daily. I've been letting some dry out to test it's flammability and it's burns pretty well. I can't wait to make a briquette out of it.
@artelagro Thanks for the great feedback Garth. I saw your video and you sure have made good use of that paper. BTW, we are currently developing a whole new family of molds for use with that press that do not require the use of PVC. We should have them done and the documentation completed in another week or two. They will be on the web site.
Keep up the good work.
Lee
i have some summer projects as usual but in the mean time i would like to make some briquettes.
Nice to hear they have found a good home. I have heard bits and pieces about the press being for sale in developing countries but I do not have any specific info on that. I believe they are used to provide income for small villages.
Thanks for the feedback and nice set of instructional videos. Wonderful gardens and it looks like you do not have a deer problem either :) We have received a number of emails about modifications to the press by the homemade cheese folks, by the compressed earth bricks (CEB) aka earthen bricks folks, the seed briquette folks, and the people making homemade cider. As you found the press is easily modified to accommodate different needs.
Super! That is really superb work.
Best Wishes, Brendan.
Outstanding idea, thanks for all the good work on this and for doing the video. In case it helps I have had good success with soaking wooden molds in used motor oil for about a day, after drying of course. The oil helps reduce the friction from wet sticky wood which helps with ejection and the expansion issue. Nice work!
I was looking for a tofu press and wound up here. Initially just searched for lever press, then figured I'd try "Dutch style lever press" as cheese making isn't too far from tofu making tbh. then found this video.
Oh, found the video on "Christine DeMerchant's Web Page". She has a lot of interesting things there. Solar cooker, woodgas stove etc.
Good question. I should have provided more explanation about the bottom support plate. The press can generate 12-14,000 pounds of force and the 2x6 is deliberately sized to provide a spring to prevent other parts from failing. The original design used a much stronger plate. The 2x6 must be good quality and void of cracks or failure can occur. If you want a less flexible plate just screw another 2x6 to the bottom of the existing plate and position it length-wise between the legs on the bottom.
If I could throw an Idea at you for your next design. It seems to me that a knee action press like the old knee action mortiser, would be ideal. You would have an increasing mechanical advantage as the stroke progressed. So not much force when starting to squish out the excess water, but at the end, when the "knee" is almost straight, a tremendous force would be available.
Sure, no problem. Local material varies considerably around the world. I find people use whatever they have locally available like metal rods, metal pipe, nuts & bolts if they have them. A metal rod with a split pin is a great idea. I'll add that to the manual. Thanks for the suggestion
Great work!!! Can you enlighten us how to actually get the paper torn in pieces?
Thanks for this
super video, we are very much interested to use it in our small woodwork company in The Gambia, West-Africa. We have to di it with very small means. My question is: is it possible to press briquettes from sawdust and water only? Or do we need some kind of binder? I heard somebody is using ols motoroil for that purposose? do you have any suggestions for us? The sawdust and woodchips come from the African Mahogony and teak trees, and sometimes white wood.
How long do the briquettes burn when made withe the formula mentioned in this video?
Hi Lee, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I am about to build one press for our school. how did you do the mold plunger? how about the base plate? Again thanks for your help.
Yes, for a wet sawdust mixture you will need a binder like paper pulp or whatever you can find that will act as a good binder. Finding a good binder and a mixture that burns well is one of the largest challenges in briquetting. Don’t get discouraged. Constructing a press and a mold is much easier that experimenting to learn what formulation works well. That step can take a while. Motor oil is a lubricant and definitely not a good binder.
If you happen to have banana plants available we did research on using banana plant waste as a burnable briquette and as a binder. It is not a good burner but if you can grind the stalk into small fibers, the fibers make a decent binder for sawdust. See the report on the web site (Feasibility_Biomass_Fuel_Briquettes_from_Banana_Plant_Waste.pdf)
Good question. I have not had any experience pressing duckweed but you might ask Richard Stanley at the Legacy Foundation. Richard has an enormous amount of experience with a wide variety of material and might have some advice.
Lee, thank you for sharing this. Have you tried pressing duckweed?
Unfortunately wet sawdust will not bind together and motor oil is definitely not a binder. On the other hand, a commercial high-pressure press for dry sawdust will heat the mixture sufficiently to soften or melt the lignin causing good binding.
MY RIGHT EAR LOVES THIS
you can use any kind of flour or syrup as a binding agent
What is the advantage of burning these bricks versus burning regular firewood?
Firewood may not be available
@@TRINITY-ks6nw Finally, after 12 years my question has been answered. I can die in peace now.
@@heckyes Actually, some see it more as a way of re-cycling wood waste, etc., rather than go to landfill. Mixing with used coffee grounds helps too.
Im about ready to make my first briquettes. I would like to know, when you say 80/20 mixture of sawdust paper, is that by weight or volume? wet or dry? etc. I hope to have an interesting press design to share with you.
Thank you for your quick answer. I was hoping it could work without paper - we can't find enough paper in The Gambia to mix with our mountain of sawdust and woodchips. If you have any idea where to find a solution for us please let me know. It is such a waste of good material especially when you consider the fact that Gambians use firewood for cooking - they buy it every day and we would be glad to invent a product to reduce our mountain and to reduce the cutting of wood.
Exelente, muy bien explicado, me suscribo desde Chubut Argentina. Muchas gracias por compartir este video.
Thanks mister!
Hi, I built the braced version of the last demo. The instructions were very easy to follow and this was easy to build. I decided to add an additional brace along the longest diagonal on one side, as the single brace was not enough to keep the frame square during pressing. I also used 5/16" bolts instead of 3/8," okay for most of the joins but not for the one at the highest pressure point (easily bent that 5/16" bolt). I calculated that to exert 2000 lbs at the highest pressure point you would need to use only 50 pounds of force as the end of the lever. The machine delivered the 2000 pounds but when I applied more, the force cracked the member that presses against the briquette piston (so don't do that or replace that member with a stronger material). I also noticed that the angle of that member was always changing depending upon the position of the hand lever and so I was always having to align the piston to keep it going straight. This was a good learning experience and probably the best you will get if your resources are limited (this machine made very good briquettes), but I am experimenting with other designs and will probably settle on something else.
Hi Suzy.
Nice feedback.
Have you progressed in your search for a more suitable design for your needs, if so how does it differ from the braced version /
I have just built the braced version and have noticed the same sort of flex you experienced.
Please keep us posted on your progress.
Lee
Thanks for putting the effort into designing these presses and producing the video.
I built mine from a large pallet to try and replicate how it could be done with minimal resources.
As you point out they can be built with very basic hand tools, the most sophisticated being the drill bit for the holes, although these could be done with a hot steel rod if necessary.
BTW I was directed to your site after seeing the video posted posted by Pauline Martin.
Just thought she deserved a mention for her video.
You're welcome!
Thanks much for the feedback. Great idea to use a pallet as a typical resource. I have always been amazed at the innovative approach by builders.
Oops, I was logged in with my other account.
Leland Hite cheers
Lee, i went to home fuse and the site would not load. Is there somewhere else i can get plans for the micro press? BTW Awesome video!!!!!
Thomas Randall leehite.org/ewb_project.htm
nice video!
Great video!
Hi Lee, Can I suggest a simple little modification to the double lever press for your consideration. i.e. Replace the long bolts with plain round rod with small holes for split pins and washers at the ends. much cheaper and easier to obtain. Garth
Pretty cool.
Not sure it matters a great deal? I have used both new and used motor oil. In addition, I have received email from press builders that use cooking oil. I suspect whatever is readably available and most economical influences most decisions.
Hi! I've read the PDFs you have available, and watched the videos but i can't find wood in the correct size. I was wondering if the parts can be assembled from two halves each. In that case, can i use plywood to make each half?
Best regards, and congratulations!!!
Yes, I certainly expect that should work. Glue well two pieces of 3/4 inch ply. I have never done this so I would appreciate learning what you find.. Thanks for the question
I believe that i won't get 3/4 inch, standard plys here come up to 18mm. Is it ok? Will that 2.1mm difference interfere with the function?
Best regards! And thank you for your fast answer
Excellent informative video, thank you. My press to your design has now turned out at least one ton of briquettes of various shapes and materials. I have responded with my video 'paper brick.asf' which shows how readily it can be adapted to suit two very different materials. Keep up the good work. Garth
Lee, what kind of oil do you soak it in? Cooking oil? Motor Oil? Veggie Oil? I'm an Electric Car nut (see my other channel Rocketmaker10000) so I don't always have a bunch of used motor oil laying around to soak wood in. I can save the oil from my next gas car oil change then I won't have to drive the EV over to the reclaimation center.... :)
HOLA SOY DOCENTE DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA Y ME GUSTARIA APLICAR ESTE SISTEMA CON MIS NIÑOS Y DESARROLLAR UN PROYECTO PRODUCTIVO. NECESITO INFORMACIÓN DE COSTOS, Y DATOS EXACTOS DE LOS DISOLVENTES O COMBUSTIBLES PARA MEZCLAR PAPEL RECICLADO CON ASERRÍN. SE LO AGRADERÉ.
This is to pick up on, and add to, the comment by ELHigh below on making a ball by hand, no tools. I am interested in TLUD, or char-making stoves, and the larger briquettes are not well suited for such stoves. I had a chance a year ago to make some "balls", but after a while ended up doing something a little different. I would pick up a handful with the left hand, squeeze, and pass to the right hand for a final squeeze. When I got rolling I could do the left and right hand squeezes at the same time. I believe that each "ball" needed two hands. Maybe some could find a way to do two at once, with only one squeeze per ball. Smaller than the balls shown, but that was OK for my type of stove. I think at least as fast as the two handed, large ball size. The "turd shapes" (can't think of a better descriptor for this shape) dried in a day and fired fine. My question is whether anyone knows of a faster approach. Can't be cheaper, unless it is faster. My conclusion was that the human hand is a really remarkable "tool".
Oops, here is a better link to the compendium: docs.google.com/file/d/0B12WsCOCGAvKTkRFQ0pNR3NiZzg/edit?pli=1
900 - nice i like it. thank you
at first I thought you were Mr. Wizard, remember him?
That is pretty cool, but why would you not just burn wood instead of making wood into saw dust and then making these blocks? I like the idea, but I do not see this as practical for people with land, is this correct? Is this just for people in deforested areas? Where would ordinary people reliably get sawdust for making these? All good questions. Thanks -- TMFA
Sawdust is a byproduct of woodworking. You make things from wood you have sawdust.
Lee ,I built from your design for Micro Compound Lever Press Notch Version .I lenthened the vert. and .horz. members. Reason being I make Self Watering Grow Barrels out of 55 gal. barrels.I will be teaching a class at our Garden Insight days at county extension.Comes in real handy in the last process,thanks for the design.Check out my video if you would like.You will see what I mean by handy.It is in 8 short parts. See ya.
Watching this 7 years later. To much junk mail...
... old motoroil for that purpose - and sorry for my English, I am from The Netherlands...
@MsPancha2010
I cut a 3 inch square to the proper length and shaved to a circle, first using a jack plain and then with a small finishing plain. It goes rather quickly. Sand to finish.
The groves in the base plate can be done using a hand gouge or with a V-Grove router and bit. Best to use a router table for that. Email me at leland.hite@gmail.com if you have additional questions. Good luck with the project
@sdjlyt2012
Sure, no problem. Space is limited here so send me an email to leland.hite@gmail.com and I'll add the details. Thanks for the question
👀👍👍👍💝💝💝
Hi Rafael,
Glad the press is working out. U can send pix to leland.hite@gmail.com Tnx much. The crusher is the more difficult question and more difficult than most realize. The grinder I have works well for some materials but doesn’t crush or chop, it grinds between two concrete surfaces. See my site for details.
The chopper grinder I am most hopeful for is one Richard Stanley is developing at the Legacy Foundation. Check with Richard for details. Thanks
Yet again a paper briquettes video showing paper / card and sawdust . 99 percent of us have cardboard coming out of our ears but don’t have access to bags of sawdust !!!!!!!!
Use coffee grounds.