Cements comprising tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP) and dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) were reported to exhibit long (>30 min) setting times (ST) unless hydroxyapatite (HA) seeds were added or a phosphate solution was used as the liquid.  Objectives: (1) to develop a rapid setting TTCP-DCPD cement, and (2) to investigate the effects of applied pressure and the phosphate cement liquid on the properties of the cement. Materials & Methods: Cement mixtures were prepared by combining equimolar amounts of TTCP (laboratory prepared, median particle size 22 mm) and one of several commercially obtained or laboratory prepared DCPD (median particle size 1.5 mm).  Distilled water or a 0.25 M sodium phosphate solution (pH 6.3) was used as the liquid (power/liquid mass ratio=4.0). A pressure of 5, 15 or 25 MPa was applied for 30 s during sample preparation. CPC properties evaluated included ST, compressive strength (CS), porosity (%p). Results: All cement mixtures exhibited long ST except the one prepared with a laboratory prepared DCPD using DCPA as the starting material.  For this cement, the STs were (14 ± 1) min and (6 ± 1) min when water and the phosphate solution, respectively, were used. With water as the liquid, increasing the applied pressure from 5 to 15 MPa caused a significant (p<0.05) increase in CS from (42.9 ± 4.7) MPa to (50.7 ± 4.1) MPa. Further increasing the pressure to 25 MPa did not increase the CS nor reduced the porosity. Phosphate solution did not affect the CS at 5 MPa pressure but was detrimental to CS at the two higher pressures. Conclusions: Rapid setting TTCP-DCPD cement can be prepared using an appropriate synthesized DCPD.  CS increased with applied pressure. Phosphate solution decreased ST but in some cases also decreased CS. Supported in part by NIH (grant # DE11789) and MCYT (grant MAT 02-03857).