Silk Road forums
Market => Product requests => Topic started by: StExo on August 26, 2012, 09:33 pm
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I am also interested in getting an answer to this question. Supplies within the UK would be handy!
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So I don't know about the laws importing into the UK, at least in the US these are not regulated. They're called tablet presses, don't call them pill presses. It's reasonably easy to get a small press with one die set that can crank out small batches. They come in small hand crank models that go for about 1k to small motorized table top models and much bigger of course. It's not suspicious or weird to buy these machines in my opinion. They're used for making candy, for holistic meds, etc. I would check out alibaba.com
Here's a couple listings that look pretty good for low volume production.
Hand Crank Tablet Press: http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/519828261-CN-0-Single-punch-tablet-press-tablet-press-machine-Tablet-Pressing-machine-wholesalers.html
Custom Tablet Die: http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/508750704-round-punches-and-dies-for-TDP-single-punch-tablet-press-machine-dies-with-customized-stamp-wholesalers.html
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Also on substances to hold a compressed tablet together. Look for "tablet binders", Cargill makes a pretty good tablet binding agent that's mostly super fine sugar and a couple small amounts of extra ingredients to promote stickyness. Generally speaking most tablet binding agents in the food industry are mostly sugar. You can buy gum paste and powdered sugar at most places that sell supplies for decorating cakes and use that.
One thing to be aware of is humidity. You can't press dry tablets, there has to be moisture present in it, but it shouldn't be a dough. Experiment with different formulations before pressing any active ingredients. It's going to take a lot of trail and error.
I personally suggest before investing in a whole press, buy a die set. You can fill the cup by hand, assemble the die and use a mallet to compress the powder.
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If you do decide to go alibaba or aliexpress be sure to order from Shenzhen, Guangzhou, HK or Guangdong Provence.
If you go with Putan or Fujin (spelling)..
You will likely be ripped off. Also, always Google the company name and look for buyer complaints. Manufacturers pay a good deal of money to be on that site so Alibaba let's a lot "slip" through that are rated as gold members.
And last of all it's like SR in a way. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.