Primitive Technology - Undercover Brick Workshop

About This Video:
I built a thatched shelter to make bricks in so that they are protected from the rain before they are fired. Despite it being the dry season, it still rains unpredictably in this climate. This can undo lots of labor in dissolving bricks. I built a shelter from wood and palm thatch to house the entire brick making process from the rain. This was no easy task with primitive technology. Leveling the ground took a week with digging sticks and clay pots to move the soil down the slope to form a flat floor. Another week was spent cutting the timber with a stone axe and then lashing the frame with lawyer cane to form the 3 x 3 pyramidal hut with a total height of 3.5 m. A final week was spent cutting, splitting and thatching a total of 1850 palm fronds to cover the roof.
I then made 50 bricks (enough for one firing) along one side of the huts floor and made a kiln from other bricks right in the center of the hut's floor under the highest point of the hut. A space for firewood was put in the corner.
Though I didn't fire the kiln in this video due to time constraints, it should work well without burning the roof. I've previously had a kiln under cover and it worked well. This pyramidal roof design should funnel the smoke up preserving the thatch from mold and insects. The reason I went back to using thatch instead of tiles is that I need bricks and tiles to make such a hut so this hut needs to be built before obtaining those materials.

About Primitive Technology:
Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no modern tools or materials. These are the strict rules: If you want a fire, use a fire stick - An axe, pick up a stone and shape it - A hut, build one from trees, mud, rocks etc. The challenge is seeing how far you can go without utilizing modern technology. I do not live in the wild, but enjoy building shelter, tools, and more, only utilizing natural materials. To find specific videos, visit my playlist tab for building videos focused on pyrotechnology, shelter, weapons, food & agriculture, tools & machines, and weaving & fiber.