Unfortunately, professional models can cost thousands of dollars. To overcome that financial obstacle, Charles Carter, an amateur biochemist and innovative entrepreneur in London, Ontario, designed a centrifuge that is inexpensive and easy to build. Carter fashioned his prototype from an Osterizer brand of blender, but his technique can be adapted to work with just about any make and model. Before building this device, you will need to secure a set of miniature sample tubes. Suppliers are listed on the bottom of this page.
Most blenders have a ringlike plastic piece directly at the top of the base.
Cut this piece away from the base with a saw and smooth any jagged edges with sandpaper. Cut a large hole in the center of the lid and glue it upside down on the base using Krazy Glue or a similar product so that the rotating shaft pokes up through it. Make sure that none of the glue gets on the rotating parts or blocks any air vents, which help to cool the electric motor. The centrifuge rotor itself is fashioned from a PVC pipe cap, which is basically a short plastic cylinder with one end closed off. Select one from your local hardware store that is about 10 centimeters in diameter.