technē and poiēsis

The woman who gave us a tour of the H.G. Matthews factory pointed to a sample wall. "This is our handmade line", she explained. "You can tell, of course, by the beautiful creases in the bricks".  In fact, creases are one of multiple clues that indicate the molding process of a brick. If you ever get a chance to see all sides of a brick, it's quite easy to tell.  Creases show that the original mixture was stiff, not liquid; their direction indicates the force applied, and their unevenness reflects the imprecision of hand-thrown clay. Check the location and nature of the stamp, if there is one, for further clues. Any brick with a 'frog' and a stamp on its largest face (see here for an example) probably means that a five-sided mold was used. Bricks made by extrusion are obvious; their extruded sides are smooth and uniform, and most of the time you can see subtle lines from the die. The other faces are rougher, having been cut off. The ones in the...

Recipe for Brick Clay: 2 parts clay 1 part sand (or to taste) Mix by foot.

I've made a few hundred bricks now, which has allowed me to develop a fairly successful molding process, but has also allowed me to see the potential improvements to First Mold. Sand, as a release agent, is essential, both on the mold and on the clay. I've found that the mold works best when it has been 'seasoned' with a few bricks- the first few of each molding session are more likely to stick. I regret not making a bottom profile, because I have to fill the mold with a lot more clay than is necessary. I have to pack it well, making sure to push my fingers into the corners. I scrape off the excess clay. A simple piece of plywood works well, and follows the profile of the mold nicely. Because the clay sieve I use still allows small pieces of flint to remain in the mixture, the plywood can drag the flint across the surface. When this happens, which is most of the time, I smooth it over with water. To release the clay, I have to whack the mold a few ti...

Radzymin and Marki were two towns which were major brick-producing areas for Warsaw. They are very close together, along the same major road heading northeast out of the city; I passed them both on my quest for brickyards.  An unusual one at the H.G. Matthews factory. Jubilee bricks?

There are a lot of things that aren't working with this brick operation (more on that later), but one thing that is working is the sand on which the bricks rest. Since they have a profiled underside, they need to be supported during the first stage of drying to prevent collapse. I was afraid I would have to mill out lengths of wooden or styrofoam profiles, but then I received the suggestion of a simple sand rake, which is a much more resource-efficient method, as well as allowing me to dry as many more bricks at the same time.

I knew I wanted to site my construction at the back corner of the field, far away from the house and looking out over the valley and the wheat field. I'm glad I found a hole left over from a previous earth-casting test- less digging to do.  The Chilterns are actually chalk hills, and it was only during the last ice age that clay was pushed up from the valleys onto the ridges. Grymsdyke is on one such ridge.

O ne of the goals I set for myself for my time here at Grymsdyke is to acquaint myself with digital fabrication techniques. This brick mold is my first introduction to the potential of the CNC machine. I realize how much skill is needed to operate such a machine. You need to have a deep understanding of the behaviour of the material under the drill bit in order to set the speed, depth, and direction of each operation. I had help with this part- hopefully it is something I will learn in the future. As well, the milled pieces still require a lot of hands-on work, for their finishing, sanding, and assembly.  I added notches as handles, and filed the joints.