News & Insights

Yellow Star Manufacturing, Vereeniging, South Africa

This brickyard has the full monty set-up. They are digging up their own stone; then crushing it down with a Doubell off-catalogue jaw crusher. The 6mm crushed stone is then transported to a Doubell skip-loader to pre-fill a skip of material to be mixed.

Vincent Makubane, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Today we are revisiting a customer who has been using their machine since 2014.

TJ Lekhooa, East London, South Africa

A great example of a hand mould being used to start a brick-yard, producing concrete M6 cavity blocks for the community. Mr Lekhooa is using a few workers to output five hundred blocks a day.

Static Adaptor: The Food Cost

Brick-making is a labour-intensive process, but the method of production can significantly impact efficiency and worker strain. The Doubell Jumbo MK3 , when mounted on a static adaptor , changes the way blocks are produced. Instead of being laid directly onto

Start your own company in South Africa

Need practical advice on the steps to take to start your own business? Here's the load out:

On this day, 35 years ago...

Quick Brick Machines and Equipment CC t/a Doubell Machines was incorporated.

New Bricks and Blocks

Doubell has been making moulds for a very long time... 40 years this year, actually. Since the start of the business, there have been plenty of custom-sized bricks, blocks, pavers, retaining wall blocks, wall pillar blocks, wall caps, sill blocks, toilet block

Mashiya Building Blocks, Chatty, EC, South Africa

What makes a good block?

Make Money. Make Bricks.

It's time.

Lion Construction, Malawi

Using a Jumbo MK3 machine (electrical vibrator option) with a M6 cavity block mould , customers like this may produce up to 3500 concrete blocks per day with repeated quality.

Klipco, Middelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Space is always an issue with making bricks. Larger brick machines like the Jumbo MK3 require around 950m² to yield the full production. However, even with less space, you can hit your maximum in a far quicker time.

Find an investor for your brickyard

You don't have to start off with money to build a better life for yourself and your community; you just need to present your business idea to someone who is willing to provide you with the funding necessary to start the brickyard.

Ferenc L., Mexico City, Mexico

Mr Ferenc approached Doubell Machines with a need. He was performing repairs and maintenance to a property that had some damage. Part of his planning included the intention to hold back an embankment that kept collapsing.

Emmanual T, Juba, South Sudan

Mr Emmanual had a need to produce building materials in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. He wanted control over the quality and price of the products and felt that there was a market available to service.

Dillon Goeda, Tsitsikamma, South Africa

Our next brick-maker this week takes us to Eastern Cape, home provincial territory of Doubell Machines. Travelling westwards just past Storms River Mouth, one finds the most beautiful snapshot of nature that the Garden Route has to offer - Tsitsikamma.

Development Roadmap

After years of economic and social detriment, we are all about to emerge on the other side of the Covid Pandemic. If there is one thing we have all learned, it is that we CAN adapt; and we MUST adapt. Even if the world returns to "normal" we shouldn't go back

Brickyard Community

We are creating a world community for brick-makers.

Bowerz Projects, Schaapkraal, Cape Town, South Africa

The Doubell Jumbo MK3 brick machine is the flagship of the company. It creates 7 sustainable jobs, generates 3 low-cost houses per day in building materials, and can change production types with a switch of the mould.

Artemis Briques, Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo DRC)

In the heart of Africa, you'll find a congolese brick-maker who can't keep up with the demand of his community. They had an opportunity of a mostly-covered workspace that was big enough to manufacture bricks. They imported a Doubell Jumbo MK3 brick-making mach

Amanzimtoti, kwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Mr Sikhosana decided to start up a brick yard. He looked at the competition in the area of his hometown. He found that there was a need for making M6 blocks. The cost of competing products was high because of the transport from other manufacturers that were no

Albert Ngobese, Durban, South Africa

Retaining wall blocks made with cement and building sand / crushed stone mix using a hand mould - the DIYRWBEM .

A Guide to Bricks, Blocks and Pavers

This article is an outline of various concrete bricks & blocks we have done in the past & can offer as custom moulds on request. This article is an overview; but ultimately each of these sections will become their own page with more information.

42 YEARS OF BRICK MACHINES

1 September 2023 marks a special day in Doubell's history - 42 years of manufacturing brickmaking machinery.

Hamms Engineering Ltd - Kitwe, Zambia

Abongile Dzebedzebe - Mount Frere, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Marc Benjamin - Haiti , West Indies

Here is an extraordinary customer, who bought a brick machine and built his own house! Not just a modest 1-bedroom house... a MANSION!

Maziba Civil Projects - Johannesburg, South Africa

Bricks 'R' Us - Harare, Zimbabwe

Trevor Malumo - Windhoek, Namibia

This is an example of a Jumbo MK3 block machine on a static adaptor. This means that the machine remains stationary and the blocks are produced onto wooden boards. After a day, the blocks are removed from the boards & stacked into cubes where they can be water

John Johnson, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

This simple hand mould was purchased to make concrete M6 blocks to build an extension to a house. The project drew attention of neighbours who offered to buy the blocks he was making.

Johann Britz - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Grahamstown - South Africa

G-Man Construction, East London, South Africa

Al Amin Momodu - Lagos Nigeria

SYF Investments - Blantyre Malawi

Olajide Danmola - Lagos Nigeria

Mfuzo - Port Elizabeth SOUTH AFRICA

Department of Rural Development - East London, South Africa

Blantyre Malawi - Chimika Joan Mwamba

Zibatsba Services, New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Anyone can start making blocks - only a small space is required.

Mozambique Block Yard

Blocks made in Mozambique. "We are now making 350 blocks in a 8 hour shift" says the brickyard owner.

Mafu Trading & Projects, South Africa

Boss Pro-Tec - Albstadt, Germany

Secundalin Trading, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Nigmo Projects Ltd - Kitwe, Zambia

Marie Timbers, Luanshya, Zambia

Here is an excellent example of a DIY making M9 cavity blocks in Zambia. This brickyard really shows how a small space can be utilised efficiently to mix the aggregate, produce the bricks, then stack and cure the block production afterwards.

Mr Hockmeyer - Weyhe, Germany

You don't need to enter the world of brick-making with the intention of selling bricks. You can simply decide to make bricks for yourself, with the convenience of building your own structures.

Kalani Ndlovu, Bulewayo, Zimbabwe

This is a great showcase for the Jumbo MK3. This machine has all the power to produce 3500 M6 block a day. You don't need the full 900 m² to start benefitting from the increased production. In fact, it is a great idea to use this machine before reaching full c

A Manual Panmixer!

If you currently operate a brickyard, then you will know that it is important to have the mix ready for the machine. If the mix isn't ready, then the machine will wait, which means production loss, workers standing around and reduced profits!

Using Vibration for Better Compaction

Doubell Machines makes every effort to keep customers aware of all the ups & downs of brickyards and brick-making machinery. It is with this ethos that you should understand why making bricks with vibration is different to manual compaction.

Using a Skip-Loader to Speed up Brick Production

To understand the true benefit of the skip loader, let's first break down the brick-making production cycle into timings. Ignoring the starting up of the day, we get the following averaged time table: Machine Mixing Time Table

Is it safe to buy machinery from South Africa?

- They should have good insight into their product(s).

Brickyard Layouts

A yard layout for brick making machinery is not an easy one-size-fits-all schematic to follow. It depends on certain factors:

Add Colour to Paving Bricks Cheaply

Adding colour to bricks is done by adding coloured oxide to the mixture. This tints the concrete dry mix (or wet mix) to the colour desired. Typically, one would add 3% of the total weight to achieve a rich level of colour. The oxide, however, is not cheap & t

The Importance of a Panmixer

Yes - panmixers are expensive. The speciality engineering of rolling metal to form the circular pan combined with the high-cost motor that drives the paddles to rotate at a high torque ratio to blend the aggregate properly all day everyday for years - that doe

Start a Community Blockyard !

From personal projects (such as house extensions, boundary walls, driveway paving, etc) to commercial block production with the intention of selling bricks to make money - It is always worth deciding on whether starting your own brickyard is a feasible solutio

How Do I Manage My Brickyard Workers ?

There is by no means a single "most effective" method. Each country has their own customs & culture involving work ethic as well as how long tea & lunch take! However, let us take a look at some good ideas to keep in mind when striving for optimal performance

Egg-layer vs Static Brick Machine

Brick & Block production is done on wooden boards or pallets. The machinery remains stationary & the production is extruded out along a conveyor system of some kind.

Brickmaking Aggregate Types

When considering mix design, it is important to know what types of aggregates may be encountered. Firstly let us divide the samples by type:

Add Life to your Bricks !

If you're already in full operation with any form of concrete wetmix or drymix production, then Doubell QuickMix is something you'll DEFINITELY be interested in!

Starting up a Brickyard

When starting your first brickyard, don't look down on the smaller more affordable machinery. Of course they are not on the commercial production scale of larger JUMBO MK3 's and HYPERSTATS which Doubell Machines offer; but they do provide a low-cost learning

01 Brick-Manufacturing Business: An Introduction to Planning

The business plan is the most important thing for anyone who wants to be successful. Whether you are a natural entrepreneur or you have an existing career, planning for success will give you the best chance to avoid failure. A good plan should also maximise pr

02 Business Planning: Company and Products

In the preceding article, we discussed the purpose of a business and why it is useful to create one. In this article, we will work through the various sections more specifically. The general gist of the the sections is:

03 Business Planning: Marketing Plan

Following on from the previous article on planning a business in brick manufacturing, this article will address the marketing aspect of the document. This section is extremely important to the investor - they will want to know that even if you have a good idea

04 Business Planning: Operations Planning

Now that we have discussed the concrete brick products and the market in which they will be sold, it's time to plan out how the business will operate. In this article, we will discuss the equipment and tools, the employees, the processes and other important bu

05 Business Planning - Conclusion

The business plan so far has been about describing the business idea (product or service), starting in the appropriate market, and with a plan of action for daily working. This section deals with the financial projections of all that. It's the most clarifying

Brand New Website!

Doubell Machines has long been at the forefront of bringing brick-machinery machinery to the emerging entrepreneur. When "brick machines" were seen to be giant factories for the big companies, it was Clive Doubell who sought to enlighten the people that bricks

Distributors by Country

Please submit your details for inclusion

Joslin - Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa

Loyiso - Venterstad, South Africa

Terrow and Sons, Zwide, Port Elizabeth

This gentleman has made his own blocks in very restricted space conditions...

Mbawe Consulting Eng - East London, South Africa

A block yard in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. This yard is using a Doubell Jumbo MK2 brick machine to achieve 1500 blocks per day on an area of 450m².