Home made encapsulating machine?

[tybrenis]

Hey guys,

Do you think it's possible to build a soft-gel encapsulating machine? How much do you think it would cost, what would be required, etc?

[Geof]

What is a soft gel encapsulating machine?

[tybrenis]

They use them mostly in the medical industry to make gelcap pills. Basically, they automatically inject and seal a liquid (usually medicine) into a gelatin capsule. I was hoping to build one to manufacturer paintballs.

[avliet]

Hey Tybrenis, If you want a swanky machine, you're in for some work... but... here it is... Why make things more complicated than they have to be: Take a page from Cadbury - makers of the Caramilk bar... Freeze your paint into little round pellets, pop each one out of it's container, dip it in latex / whatever to give it a thin coat, and let them thaw... This should work fine as, from what I remember, the paints you'd want to use are all water based... Your challenges are more in how to shape your molds for mass production and how to dip / dry the latex on the balls before they start melting. Maybe a special type or mixture of plastics will work for the last part. Careful how thick you make the coating. Paintballs already hurt - you could do some real damage if you make the skin too thick. Off you go - Play safe now... *pat on the head* Regards, ARVliet PS - Probably cheaper to just buy the darn things.

[tybrenis]

Originally Posted by avliet Hey Tybrenis, If you want a swanky machine, you're in for some work... but... here it is... Why make things more complicated than they have to be: Take a page from Cadbury - makers of the Caramilk bar... Freeze your paint into little round pellets, pop each one out of it's container, dip it in latex / whatever to give it a thin coat, and let them thaw... This should work fine as, from what I remember, the paints you'd want to use are all water based... Your challenges are more in how to shape your molds for mass production and how to dip / dry the latex on the balls before they start melting. Maybe a special type or mixture of plastics will work for the last part. Careful how thick you make the coating. Paintballs already hurt - you could do some real damage if you make the skin too thick. Off you go - Play safe now... *pat on the head* Regards, ARVliet PS - Probably cheaper to just buy the darn things.

Thanks for the advice, I'd never thought of the approach.

Thing is, paintballs are very precisely made, and while theya re all ".68" caliber, they vary from .679 to .691. These tiny little differences can make a big difference on the paintball field.

I'm just messing about and seeing what I can come up with here, its by far not a big deal to me. I jsut thought it'd be cool, even if buying them is probably cheaper anyways... =D

[AMCjeepCJ]

I just saw a program called, "How it's made" on Discovery or TLC last week on this very same topic, might be worth watching that show to see how it's done in bulk...

[tybrenis]

Originally Posted by AMCjeepCJ I just saw a program called, "How it's made" on Discovery or TLC last week on this very same topic, might be worth watching that show to see how it's done in bulk...

That's where I got the idea for this... hehe. That's my favorite show.

[VoxLimbo]

You could use a two shot molding. Inject the shell, rotate the mold for the paint shot, inject the paint, and heat seal the opening.

But, perhaps it would be better to blow mold this using the injection of the paint mixture itself to to expand the outer coating into the mold. It will depend on the working temperatures of your ingredients.

The earliest injection macines were manual, using a heater and a lever for the injection itself. You could make such a machine for your prototype work.

Be carefull you don't run afoul of the DEA. Capsule manufacture equipment, as well as tableting equipment is closely watched due to it's diversion into drug manufacture.

The other consideration is that the tollerances you are trying to meet are only partly due to the accuracy of your mold. you will get much more size variation from the molding process itself. The molded material will shrink while cooling, and expand when exposed to moisture. This will be dependent on your material selection, feedstock humidity, process humidiity, injection and tooling temperature, injection rates, injection and extraction timing.

Good luck,
Albion.

[MnotLyon]

Originally Posted by avliet Hey Tybrenis, If you want a swanky machine, you're in for some work... but... here it is... Why make things more complicated than they have to be: Take a page from Cadbury - makers of the Caramilk bar... Freeze your paint into little round pellets, pop each one out of it's container, dip it in latex / whatever to give it a thin coat, and let them thaw... This should work fine as, from what I remember, the paints you'd want to use are all water based... Your challenges are more in how to shape your molds for mass production and how to dip / dry the latex on the balls before they start melting. Maybe a special type or mixture of plastics will work for the last part. Careful how thick you make the coating. Paintballs already hurt - you could do some real damage if you make the skin too thick. Off you go - Play safe now... *pat on the head* Regards, ARVliet PS - Probably cheaper to just buy the darn things.

I like your idea, but most paintballs are oil based. They make lead shot by dropping it from a tower. The drips become round as they fall, and they fall into water. Maybe something similar could be done with paintballs. Maybe somebody could formulate a paint that would create it's own shell when dried, so it could be dropped too.

To the OP:
If you're trying to find cheap paintballs, call National or PMI. You're not going to make them any cheaper.

OTOH, if you're looking to come up with a BETTER paintball, you need to get away from the encapsulating machine. Maybe an idea like avliet's is the way to go. You need to get rid of the seam, and insure a more round paintball.

If you really wanna do something different, make a more accurate paintball shape. Something more bullet shaped that could accept rifleing, or maybe arrow shaped that doesn't need rifleing. Of course, then you'll have to come up with a new gun to shoot them.

[aball2]

Dimples might be a good way to go. How much money has been spent making a golf ball go that extra mile? There are already barrels that force the ball to spin if dimples are added that would have to add the the lift!

[VoxLimbo]

Rather than getting rid of the seam, perhaps it would be better to create more seams in a balanced way such as a buckyball or geodesic pattern.