Techniques and tools for assembling and disassembling compactable molds and forming building blocks

A system comprising:

• a compactable mold defining a mold cavity for forming a compacted concrete building block, the compactable mold comprising:
• multiple compacting walls;
• and
• at least one tube attached to at least one of the multiple compacting walls;
• and
• a mold wall disassembly and reassembly mechanism operable to:
• move the multiple compacting walls of the compactable mold from a compacted wall position to a retracted wall position during mold disassembly;
• move the multiple compacting walls from the compacted wall position to the retracted wall position during mold reassembly;
• move the at least one tube of the compactable mold from an inserted tube position to a retracted tube position during mold disassembly;
• and
• move the at least one tube of the compactable mold from the retracted tube position to the inserted tube position during mold reassembly.

A system comprising:

• plural mold wall disassembly and reassembly mechanisms;
• and
• a conveyor system for conveying compactable molds to and from the plural mold wall disassembly and reassembly mechanisms, each compactable mold defining at least one mold cavity for forming compacted concrete building blocks, each compactable mold comprising:
• multiple compacting walls;
• and
• at least one tube attached to at least one of the multiple compacting walls;
• and
• wherein the plural mold wall disassembly and reassembly mechanisms are operable to:
• move multiple compacting walls of a compactable mold from a compacted wall position to a retracted wall position during mold disassembly;
• move the multiple compacting walls from the compacted wall position to the retracted wall position during mold reassembly;
• move at least one tube of the compactable mold from an inserted tube position to a retracted tube position during mold disassembly;
• and
• move the at least one tube of the compactable mold from the retracted tube position to the inserted tube position during mold reassembly.