Ten calcium phosphates suitable for direct compression (dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate, dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous and hydroxylapatite) were investigated with respect to their compressional behaviour. Except for Di-Cafos A all products gave tablets with sufficient to good mechanical strength. Nevertheless, there were differences between the products. All tablets prepared from the different products showed a high friability. This seems to be a problem of the calcium phosphates in general. On the other hand, the influence of magnesium stearate on the mechanical strength of the tablets was negligible for all products investigated. Moreover, a considerable effect of the particle size on the tensile strength of the tablets was found. The ejection forces and residual pressures were high in general, but critical only in the case of hydroxylapatites. Heckel plots were used to differentiate between plastic deformation and brittle fracture of the particles. In the case of calcium phosphates the slope of the Heckel plots indicated the hardness of the particles rather than their deformation behaviour.