Self-production of building materials requires the availability of the necessary components. In this regard, the production of wood concrete is one of the preferred options. It does not require the use of large capacities and does not require complex special equipment. Wood concrete blocks have significant advantages - they are lightweight, retain heat well, durable and quite reliable. There are no problems with the supply of cement and other mineral fillers; the main issue is a stable supply of wood chips.
It makes up approximately 80-90% of the volume of the entire briquette, so the quantity and quality of the material is important. There is practically no place to buy wood chips; the only option is to make it yourself. To do this, you need a machine that grinds the wood to the desired fraction. You can buy or rent one, but many users prefer to make a homemade shredder. Let's take a closer look at this option.
Wood chips for making wood concrete
Since wood concrete is a building material, the manufacturing technology and quality of components are strictly regulated by GOST.
According to the requirements, the dimensions of the chips should be:
- Length - 40 mm.
- Width - 10 mm.
- Thickness - 5 mm.
A small amount of impurities is allowed in the composition of the material:
- Sawdust - 5-10% (maximum).
- Needles - 5%.
Expert opinion
Levin Dmitry Konstantinovich
The shape of the chips should be formed by splitting along the grain rather than by cutting crosswise. This ensures the mechanical qualities of the filler - strength, ability to hold shape, preservation of the material during storage in large containers.
Pouring the monolith
To fill monolithic walls, it is necessary to use a solution with a superplasticizing additive. You also need to take care of reinforcement, as when installing monolithic reinforced concrete. Metal elements will protect the structure from spreading under intense load and provide it with improved strength properties.
Reinforcement is made using steel, fiberglass or carbon fiber reinforcement with a diameter of 16 mm (for vertical reinforcement) or 8-10 mm (for horizontal reinforcement). The frame must be secured before installing the formwork. Otherwise, connecting the elements to each other will become more problematic.
All available materials are suitable for arranging formwork.
It can be:
- Cement particle boards.
- Walls from old cabinets or doors.
It is also possible to use a permanent structure made of polystyrene or foam. However, they will worsen the vapor permeability of wood concrete. The best solution is fiberboard.
What is a wood chipper?
A wood chipper (shredder, crusher, shredder, etc.) is a mechanical device that splits wood into small fragments. There are several design options capable of producing material of different fraction sizes.
There are installations for the production of pellets that produce fine wood chips. The larger material that other structures make is used to produce wood concrete. In addition, there are ordinary wood chippers for the garden, which are used to make compost and do not calibrate the wood chips in a certain way.
The starting materials can be:
- Cutting boards.
- Obzol.
- Branches.
- Thin plant trunks.
There are universal designs that can work not only with wood, but also with coal, plastic and other materials.
Alternative to self-production
It is also possible to save time and effort on the production of wood chips by purchasing ready-made material. In this case, you can spend 200-300 rubles per cubic meter. An alternative is to purchase already prepared and processed wood chips for 1000-1500 rubles per cubic meter. In this case, the material will have the following properties:
- The wood will be free of sugars and will be treated with aluminum sulfate;
- The special shape of the material - rough ends will give the chips the necessary tenacity for greater contact with concrete;
- The product is packaged in bags that are convenient for transportation and use.
Using the device
Wood chippers are needed in different situations.
They are used to perform the following tasks:
- Processing and disposal of plant trimmings in garden plots;
- In industrial and handicraft production;
- Production of raw materials for the production of OSB, wood concrete, pellets, etc.
If garden shredders can be replaced by manual recycling of waste, then the production of wood chips for industrial purposes is possible only with the help of a wood chip cutter of one design or another. The volumes of material even for small handicraft production are very large, and if you plan to launch a larger enterprise, then installations for the production of wood chips become practically the main production equipment. If we are talking about the production of wood concrete, we have to comply with GOST requirements, which makes equipment the most important link in the entire process.
Rules for assembling the machine
It is necessary to strictly adhere to the sequence of assembly operations.
- The grinding unit is assembled. A disk with knives, hammers and bearings inside their housings are “mounted” on the shaft.
- The lower stationary part of the body is installed on the frame.
- A grinding unit with a sieve together is inserted inside, the first must be inserted into the second.
- The chopper rests on the frame using bearings, which are immediately bolted to the frame.
- The sieve must be attached to the stationary part of the housing with screws or bolts. To do this, ears are welded to it in advance.
- A large pulley is mounted on the end of the shaft protruding from one bearing.
- The electric motor is installed and belts are put on the pulleys.
- The funnel is welded or bolted to the body of the wood chipper.
- The upper hinged part of the housing is mounted on hinges.
We can assume that the wood chipper for wood concrete is made with our own hands. All that remains is to carry out the electrical installation and the first start-up of the equipment. An electric motor requires three phases to be connected and an automatic machine selected for its power to be installed. There are two electrical installation options:
- assemble a separate unit and install it with a start button directly on the frame;
- Leave the button on the machine, and mount the machine in the distribution panel of the room.
The first option is better because it makes it possible to move the wood concrete chipper (with a used or new electric motor) to any place, like a full-fledged piece of equipment.
Design, principle of operation, varieties
Chip cutters: 1-Single-roll 2-Double-roll 3-Disk
There are three structural types of chip cutters:
- Single shaft . These are expensive and productive machines that are widely used in production. The main working part of this device is a shaft with pobedite cutters installed on it. The feedstock is supplied to it using a special unit - a pre-presser. Rotating, the shaft cuts chips from the workpieces, the size of which depends on the distance between the carbide teeth.
To achieve maximum productivity, it is necessary to use homogeneous raw materials. Some companies recycle old, worn-out pallets.
- Twin-roll . This design allows you to process not only wood, but also other materials. The versatility and ease of manufacture have led to the fact that most homemade wood chippers are made based on this particular design. The working body consists of two shafts on which cutters are tightly mounted. They rotate towards each other and grind the raw materials, which are supplied from the hopper. The quality of processing depends on the engine power and the speed of rotation of the shafts - the faster, the smaller the size of the chips. It should be taken into account that too slow rotation leads to the workpiece being pulled between the teeth and the cutters wedging. Therefore, the rotation mode should be selected according to the characteristics of the material being processed.
- Disk . these installations operate on a different principle. The working body is a rotating disk, on the lateral plane of which elongated incisors are installed in the radial direction. When feeding raw materials onto the disk, grinding occurs to a certain size, which can be adjusted by changing the inclination of the cutting edges relative to the radius lines. In addition, it is possible to adjust the size of the fraction by increasing the number of cutters.
Expert opinion
Levin Dmitry Konstantinovich
The simplest and most affordable designs are considered to be two-roll and disk. They are often used by home craftsmen as prototypes for homemade projects.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of wood chippers include:
- The ability to process large quantities of wood and other materials into a homogeneous bulk material of a stable fraction.
- Versatility, ability to change chip sizes.
- A variety of drive mechanisms - the ability to install electric and gasoline engines.
- Compact, does not require much space for installation.
Disadvantages of shredders:
- The need to connect to the power supply or fuel supply for the internal combustion engine.
- Large volume processing requires powerful motors and durable cutting surfaces.
- The machine structure is constantly subject to severe stress and requires frequent maintenance.
Expert opinion
Levin Dmitry Konstantinovich
An additional and important disadvantage of wood chippers is their high price. The cheapest models cost about 50-60 thousand rubles, and more productive models will cost much more. This is the main reason for the preference for creating shredders yourself.
You may be interested in: DIY wood splitter. Types of devices and instructions
Is it possible to make the device yourself?
Making a chip cutter yourself is quite possible, but to do this you need to have the appropriate skills and capabilities. You will need tools, materials, and appropriate equipment. In addition, to rotate the shaft you will have to use an electric motor with a tensioner, or a gasoline engine.
Chip cutters for gasoline (or diesel) engines are produced less frequently, since the safe removal of exhaust gases is an unsafe system. Outdoor installation is possible only in the warm season, and in winter it is extremely difficult to work with such equipment.
Before you begin the actual manufacture of the machine, you need to decide on the design and select all the necessary tools and materials. You may have to order some components from a turner or use ready-made elements. Usually based on the parts at hand. In addition, you need to carefully weigh your capabilities and decide whether it makes sense to take on the production of a powerful and rather dangerous machine.
Disc chip cutter.
Useful tips
If you decide to take on the task of making high-quality and effective sandblasting yourself, then you should take on board some useful tips.
Experts who make such equipment at home claim that the device will work much longer if it contains a dehumidifier. If we are talking about homemade piston equipment, then at the input stroke it is recommended to install a system that will effectively filter the oil.
In this video you will learn how to make a small but powerful sandblast with your own hands.
Design options for homemade wood chippers
Typically, two design options are used for DIY manufacturing:
- Double-roll wood chipper . Users are attracted by the ease of creating cutting tools - circular saws or wood cutters are used. mounted on two parallel rotating shafts. It is not difficult to transmit rotation to them, finding the required number of cutters is also not a significant problem. All that remains is to make the frame and weld the machine casing.
- Disk type . Here, knives from an electric planer are used, mounted on a rotating disk. The working element itself requires good balancing, otherwise the machine will quickly fail due to strong vibration. Usually the disc is ordered from a turner, and they only mount the knives themselves and make a protective casing with supply and ejection diffusers.
Both types of machines are manufactured using different tools:
- Grinder with cutting disc.
- Welding inverter with a set of electrodes.
- Drilling machine.
- Set of wrenches.
- A set of common plumbing tools (hammer, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.).
Expert opinion
Levin Dmitry Konstantinovich
During the work process, you may need other tools available to the user. The final choice is determined by the design chosen as the basis for the future machine.
All work is carried out in stages:
- Making a frame from a channel or a strong corner.
- Installing the hubs of the working body and checking the functionality of the shaft (or shafts).
- Installation of drive pulleys and tensioning mechanism, adjustment of correct movement when tensioning drive belts.
- Cutting metal sheets for making a body. They are attached to the frame with threaded connections.
- Manufacturing and connection of chip supply and ejection diffusers.
The manufacturing stages are indicated conditionally; additional operations are possible during assembly.
Shredder maintenance
Like any other equipment, chip cutters periodically require maintenance , which can be divided into parts of the equipment, that is:
- frame;
- cutting tool;
- drive unit;
- engine;
- electrical equipment;
- other systems.
Housing maintenance consists of daily (before each start-up) checking the tightness of all bolts and nuts . In addition, once a season it is necessary to inspect all parts of the frame and body in search of rust , and if it is found, you need to clean the metal parts and then paint them.
Cutting tools, that is, knives, are checked for sharpness once a week or every evening if the wood chipper was working without stopping. To do this, fold back the casing and check the cutting edge with your finger - it should be sharp to the touch and free from defects, that is, dents, cracks and cavities.
If the cutting surface is dull or damaged, the knives are sharpened or replaced. Improper sharpening of knives leads to loosening of the steel and a decrease in its strength, so knives are often replaced by replacing them with spare ones.
Each manufacturer offers spare knives, but some come with already paid equipment, while others offer them for an additional fee.
Here are the signs that are a reason to check the condition of the drive :
- decreased productivity;
- vibration;
- whistling or other extraneous noise;
- smell of burnt rubber.
Having detected any of the signs, fold back the upper part of the housing and remove the casing from the belt drive.
Then loosen the tension of the belts and remove them from the shaft pulley. Grasping the disk with your fingers in an area free from knives, spin it in one motion, after which the disk should make 5 or more revolutions .
If the disk stops faster, then the bearings need to be replaced or lubricated. Pull the pulley along the axis, then up and down.
If there is play, the bearings must be replaced. Then check the sharpness of the knives and, if necessary, replace or sharpen them. For a detailed description of these operations, see the device's operating instructions.
the integrity of the cable and the reliability of the grounding connection once a week . Only an experienced electrician can carry out a more serious check of electrical equipment, so at least once a quarter ask him to fully check your wood chipper.
If any defects are found, the electrician will promptly eliminate them. Check other systems as described in the shredder operating manual.
The most popular manufacturers and models
Before you start creating your own project, it is useful to familiarize yourself with the structure and features of the most successful industrial designs. This helps to more accurately understand the operating principle and make the necessary clarifications in the diagram.
Let's look at some of the popular models of wood chippers:
Skorpion 350 SDB
Polish drum crusher. Copes not only with small, but with large workpieces (logs up to 280 mm). It has an increased safety margin for the cutting tool; the caterpillar feed facilitates the processing of small pieces of wood.
Moby 250
Autonomous shredders designed in the form of a semi-trailer. They are equipped with their own diesel engines and are connected to a hydraulic drive system. Designed for use in field conditions.
Cramer COMBI CUT 9600
The German unit has good build quality and high reliability of all components and parts. Made as a stand-alone unit with its own Honda engine. Capable of processing 830 kg of raw materials per hour.
MTD ROVER 464Q
Semi-professional garden branch shredder. Equipped with two separate diffusers for loading branches and plant stems. Driven by a gasoline engine, there are 2 wheels for movement.
Lumberjack MP 300
A universal domestic stationary wood chip cutter, capable of operating with a 22, 380 V electric drive or based on a gasoline engine. Capable of processing up to 300 kg of raw materials per hour. Designed for gardening work with branches and beveled plant stems.
Viking GE 105
Disc chipper made in Austria. Used for chopping branches, wane and other types of raw materials. Equipped with an electric drive, the maximum thickness of workpieces is 35 mm.
Caliber ESI-2400N
Chinese garden shredder disc type. Equipped with an electric drive powered by 220 V. Compact and lightweight unit, weighing only 11 kg.
The listed devices are relatively inexpensive, as they are made primarily for use in the garden or country house. High-performance industrial plants are significantly more expensive. For self-production, it is better to choose a low-power design so as not to overload the components and parts of the machine. This is dangerous and can cause damage and injury.
