3 replies to this topic

[OneScrewLoose]

So I am making some custom caps and was struggling to get the right amount of filler to active substance ratio, so I came up with this little formula.

 

(Total space of capsule in ml - dose of active in grams / density of active in grams) * (density of filler in grams / dose of active in grams)

 

The number you get will be the ratio of filler to active substance (by weight). Make sure you convert your dose from mg to grams (or you can convert your densities to mg, just make sure your units are consistent. A quick google search will get you the density of pretty much any substance, and it almost always comes in g/ml (or it might say cm^3 instead of ml, but a cubic centimeter is a ml). If it doesn't, you have to convert.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited by OneScrewLoose, 31 December 2023 - 08:38 AM.

[OneScrewLoose]

So, after some experimentation, I learned that the official density of a substance, and the real world density of a substance when you pull it out of a package are two very different things. For example, the official density of Inositol is 1.75g/ml. But the most I could get into a capsule made it .93g/ml, a huge difference. Perhaps the official measurement comes from crushing it into a superfine powder and applying a lot of pressure. So I recommend finding the density of your substances yourself. Measure the weight of the empty capsule, fill it with as much of your substance as you can, then weigh it again and subtract the empty capsule weight, then use that weight in grams over the milliliters of your capsule to get your density.

 

And as for the space/milliliters of a capsule, I found out that the official measurements are for the closed capsule. Putting the cap on the capsule adds a tad bit more space, which isn't going to be used when using a manual capsule machine, so I subtract 10% of the volume and use that measurement. My size 3 capsule is officially .3ml, so I use .27ml in my measurements.

Edited by OneScrewLoose, 03 January 2024 - 05:29 PM.

[OneScrewLoose]

Error correction: I got the information that the volume is for the complete closed capsule from a capsule company called LFA. Turns out they steered my very wrong. After some further digging, and asking other companies, I found out it's for the base only. So scratch the last part of my last post.

[OneScrewLoose]

I guess I should go into a bit more detail in case you didn't see how it works.

 

Let's say you want 100mg of a substance per capsule. You multiply that by the amount of capsules you'll make. You then get your ratio from the formula and mix your active substance (whose total amount is the aforementioned number of you just multiplied) with that many more times more filler (or that many times less, if the number is less than 1). Then you put it all in your capsule machine, and assuming all is well, it will be the perfect amount to fill the capsules.