Industrial Brick Production IX – Automatic Cutter

About the sound

Brick production was of great importance in the Lippe area in Germany. The Brick Factory Beerman in Sylbach was one of the many production sites in the area. Opened in 1909 the factory did not introduce machines for industrial brick production until 1922. However, after the factory had changed from coal to oil as energy source, oil prices went up within the oil crisis. The factory had to close in 1979.
By 2001 the former factory has been bought, restored and turned into a museum by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen Lippe. Today the historic machines of the brick factory Beermann are running once more. The industrial process of making bricks can be explored during special presentations at the museum. These presentations include all processes within industrial brick production – from clay mining and transport over rolling and pressing to drying of the blanks and firing. This recording was made during such a public presentation of industrial brick production.
Once the clay has been pressed into brick-shape it is ejected by the press in a long strand. Eventually an automatic cutter cuts the strand into individual bricks. This recording you can hear the rhythmic swish of the guillotine-like automatic cutter. In the background the noise of the other machines can still be heard, such as the edge runner, transmission and clay press.

Sound: Lukas Rabl (The University of Applied Sciences Dortmund)
Photo/Video: Kathinka Engels