Minutus

Dear All,

As ALF continues "churning out" homeopaths our infrastructural needs are growing.

I'm trying to acquire a globule (or tablet) making machine. But, frankly, I haven't the first idea where to start. Does anyone have a clue where I could find one? I heard vaguely about a german-made machine. Our needs are modest, I don't think we need a large machine at all.

Please write me privately if you have any leads on this on. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Didi Ananda Ruchira
Director, Abha Light
visit: http://home.pacific.net.sg/~rucira/alf
tel: +254 20 787310 / cell: 0733-895466

At 11:24 AM +0300 6/7/04, Abha Light Foundation wrote:

I know you said "write privately" but there might be others as well
who are interested in knowing...

I have only seen globules made by pharmaceutical houses. The machines
are large drums which hold several pounds of granules. Sucrose is
liquified and sprayed into the drum as the drum turns, coating all
the small starting granules (very fine sugar) with more and more
sugar. It looks like a small concrete mixer.
I have never seen how a confectioner makes the granules. I know that
when Hahnemann began to use sugar granules as a medium to hold the
dilutions, he suggested getting them from a confectionary
manufacturer. I know a number of homeopaths who buy their granules
from a candy supplier-- getting the smallest granules they can. In
NZ, those granules are called "hundreds of thousands".
It might be easier to source them elsewhere than actually make them.
I am also not sure how small the machines can be, nor what is
involved in the prepartion to use them (i.e., getting the starting
"seeds").

Tablet making machines are also quite expensive and complex. Boericke
and Tafel had a few, and when they closed, they went to Joe Lillard
at Washington Homeopathic. I believe he has two of them now working.
It is a precision machine consisting of a hopper (that holds the
medicated sac lac), a perforated plate (onto which the sac lac falls
and, as the plate turns, the overflowing sac lac is pushed aside for
the next group). If I recall correctly, the plate was the thickness
of a 1 grain tablet, and had four groupings of about 30 holes. Above
the plate in a matching group of pins which, when activated, slide
into the 30 holes below, and push out the tablets onto a moving belt,
which them dumps them off the end into a container.
All the parts which come in contact with the remedy are stainless
steel and have to be removed and cleaned before another remedy is
made.
Of course, if you are thinking of just making blank tablets-- the
cleaning is not an issue.
I have seen *manual* tablet presses-- a metal or hard rubber plate
with 30, 50, 100 holes which comes with a matching stamper. The sac
lac, which is wet with corn syrup and/or gum arabic, is pressed into
the plate while the plate is resting on a thick piece of glass or
polished stone. when the holes are all filled, the plate is pressed
over the stamper-- knocking all the tablets out.

I have no idea where to get such equipment.

Let us know how your quest goes.

JW

Hi Group,
Does anyone in the group get sac lac from a candy maker? Could you tell us your source?
Blessings,
Ellen Madono

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Group,
Does anyone in the group get sac lac from a candy maker? Could you tell us your source?
Blessings,
Ellen Madono

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I was thinking along the same lines as Julian. I know it's possible to order unmedicated pellets from homeopathic pharmacies, in whatever quantity you need. I wondered if that might not be more cost-effective than getting one's own machine -- but I don't know what the machine's costs would be. Rosemary
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear all,
Thanks for all the imput on this topic. Your concern is morale-boosting.

True I've been getting unmedicated globules all this time from India. Usually at around Rs. 25-30 (US$ 0.70) a kg. Yeah, cheap.

(We have liquid medicating potencies -over 1600- and medicate the pills ourselves. This is the most economical way forward. )

When the sugar came in, I would sweet talk (no pun intended) the postal-customs officials that this was "medicinal" sugar and it would pass through. However Kenya recently tightened the rules. Sugar is sugar (a protected Kenyan industry) and the customs duty is 120% on cost + postage. The 18 kg I got in this week has cost us about US$10 / kg ! Add to this that 5 years ago I was just managing a single clinic and had few needs, now we're trying to supply 9 clinics and 5-10 mobile clinics. Not to mention next year what will happen when we have another 10+ homeopaths to sort out. And the year after that...

Besides, I may attempt triturating our own tissue salts for the same reason of high importation expenses. Now, if we could only press them into tablets...

Abha Light is not simply training homeopaths or opening clinics. ALF is struggling to establish a whole infrastructural base from which homeopathy will grow in this country (& hopefully extend to other E African countries). I'm moving in the direction of establishing a lab, production, etc not to mention working with gov't officials to get homeopathy appropriately recognised.

(What I don't want to happen is like a rumour I heard from Nigeria- that there are some homeopaths there but they have no way of getting their medicines, so in fact they are somewhat bogus and are using simply herbal meds.)

Coincidently (did I telepathically receive your emails before reading online?) I have started talking to some local confectionaries for sourcing those "hundreds of thousands". But I'd be happier if we can afford to have full production of homeopathic meds in our own hands. In the long run, that would give us the liberty to produce medicines of marketable quality.

hey! Boiron - LOOK OUT! Here comes ALF!!!
oh, ahhh, ahemm, oops. I'd better slow down
a bit, I'm getting carried away...
Delusions; VISIONS, has; grandeur, of magnificent (3)

Still, I heard something about a machine from Germany- maybe someone here knows?
If anyone knows where to get -or how to build- a tablet or globule making machine -lead me to it.
Sincerely,
Didi Ananda Ruchira
Director, Abha Light
visit: http://home.pacific.net.sg/~rucira/alf
tel: +254 20 787310 / cell: 0733-895466