Homemade Dry Filler Machines

A user can make a homemade dry filler machine to fill any dry material into a container. The design of the machine will depend on the size of the container and the amount of the filler to be deposited. Depending on the size of the container, there may need to be an implement to hold the container in place while the filling is added. One example of a homemade dry filler machine is a do-it-yourself capsule-filler, where a dry powder is added to empty gelatin or cellulose capsules.

The Parts Create a System

• Designing a homemade dry filler machine involves synchronizing a few key parts that must work together. A filler machine, at its most basic, involves a container to be filled and filling for the container. Filler machines also will require a method for getting the filling into the container. The machine gets more complicated if the container requires something to hold it in place so it doesn't tip over or move to evade the filling. To more closely examine the parts of a homemade dry filler machine, think of an empty gel cap and a powder mix as the container and the filling.

The Container

• The container is the component that gets filled with the filling, so it is crucial that it be large enough to accommodate the filling. This would be crucial in the example of filling a gel cap, where the capsule must be large enough for the dosage that needs to be contained within the capsule. In that example, the user would have several capsule sizes from which to choose. In some cases, such as designing a filler machine for filling pillows with stuff, the primary objective may be the container itself, and the amount of filling must be made up to fill the container.

The Filling

• The filling is the component that moves -- often it is poured -- into the container, so for some applications, it is crucial that the filling be pourable. In the example of herbal powders being filled into capsules, it would be helpful if the herb mixture was powdered so that it pours more easily, as opposed to herbs kept in a larger dry herb form that can stick. In the example of pillows, there may be a couple of different options for filling that achieve the same result, such as some types of fiberfill that pour like popcorn versus fibrous batting that would need to be stuffed rather than poured.

Accessories to get the Job Done

• The accessories that can assist with the filling job are often what demands the creativity in designing the system from scratch. The design will depend on what the filling and container are. In the herbal capsule example, an accessory will need to hold the capsule halves open while the filling is added to the empty half. Since there are few items around a home that can hold up something as small as a gel cap, the user would probably need to fashion it out of something that could have small holes made into it.

  One example would be to take a piece of cardboard, large enough to hold enough capsules for one batch, and make holes that can hold the capsules and keep them from tipping over. Holes could be made with a drill bit of similar size to the capsules, or even with a pencil poked through multiple places on the cardboard. The user could experiment with carefully pouring the herbal mixture into the capsule halves, or use a small scoopla to scoop mixture into each capsule. In the case of filling a pillow, a pillow case will require something to hold it open while it's being filled. If the pillow case is being stuffed with batting, which requires stuffing with one hand, it can be as simple as the person doing the stuffing holding the pillow case open with the other hand.