Wire-cut bricks are bricks formed by slicing a brick-sized piece from a bulk-length of clay with a wire tool. After the clay is formed into a large, rectangular piece of material, it is sliced into several brick-sized pieces by pushing wires through the material. The slicing of the clay in wire-cut bricks leaves a telltale sign in the cured surface of the brick that renders them easily recognizable. A rough surface, created during the slicing procedure of wire-cut bricks, is produced through the stretching of the clay as the wire is pushed and forced through the material.
There are two distinct methods of shaping bricks: pressing and wire-cutting. The pressing method creates a brick by pressing material into a brick mold or form and applying pressure. This method, while time-intensive and expensive, produces very strong bricks of a uniform size and shape. Most wire-cut bricks are formed as a large block of brick material and pushed through a die onto a cutting pan. Once pushed through the sizing die, the block is sliced into several brick-sized pieces by forcing a large, cheese cutter-like tool through the block of material.
When the bricks are sliced by the wire, it pulls the edge of the brick, stressing the clay and creating small cracks in the surface of the stretched material. As the wire-cut bricks are fired, a process that heats the bricks, the moisture in the clay is baked out and the molecules of clay heat together and strengthen into a long-lasting building product. The stretch marks on the surface of the baked brick separate into rough cracks and crevasses. This feature is what gives the bricks the visual appeal that many builders and homeowners seek in a finished appearance.
Besides producing a much more affordable product, the wire-cut bricks require much less time to create than a pressed version of brick. A typical block of clay will produce six to nine bricks once cut and cured. Four- or five-person teams typically manufacture bricks with a single brick-making machine. Two people commonly shovel the clay brick material into the hopper of the machine, while another adds the appropriate amount of water to the mix. Another person pushes the material into the shaping chamber and forces the brick material out of the forming die and onto the cutting table. All of the wire-cut bricks are sliced by a fourth worker as a fifth worker places the bricks from the cutting table onto a drying rack.
