Hi, a while ago I asked the EvolDir community to help me with an issue I had regarding 3D printing. Though magnetic stands are essential for library preps, the prices online are ridiculous. Fortunately, I was not alone in my struggle, and I received a variety of very useful answers. Please see enclosed. I hope they will help peer with similar issues. Thanks a million, and take care! Sincerely, Nik ----- Dear Nik, I do not use magnetic racks regularly, but anyway here are my hints: 3D printing of magnetic stands: https://www.thingiverse.com/ thing:79424 https://www.thingiverse.com/ thing:66281 https://www.thingiverse.com/ thing:90644 Here is a Russian company that produces relatively cheap magnetic racks: https://translate.google.com/ translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y& prev=_t&hl=ru&ie=UTF-8&u=http% 3A%2F%2Fmagnoshop.ru%2Findex% 2Fmagnitnye_shtativy%2F0-20& edit-text Although the site is in Russian (I've provided the link to Google translation), you can communicate with them in English. Best regards, Alexei. -- Alexei Kostygov, PhD Scientific Researcher University of Ostrava Chittussiho 10, 71000 Ostrava Czech Republic Tel: +420-597092340 (office) +420-731422168 (cell) Yeah, they are all pretty expensive. Haven't looked recently, but this was the cheapest on I found a couple years ago: http://www.bio-rad.com/en-us/sku/1614916-16-tube-surebeads-magnetic-rac k. Works fine. Nate - Nathaniel K. Jue, Ph.D. Assistant Professor School of Natural Sciences California State University, Monterey Bay Seaside, CA 93955 Hi Nik, I needed a 96 well magnetic plate and refused to pay $300 for one. I made one using a plastic 96 well plate for 0.2 mL PCR tubes like this one (https://www.usascientific.com/Compact-PCR-tube-rack.aspx). I then used a drill press to drill holes at the center of each cluster of four wells (four holes in every-other row in the plate). I inserted cylindrical magnets into the holes like these (http://appliedmagnets.com/n48-neodymium-magnets-1-8-in-x-1-2-in-cylind er-p-723.html). The resulting plate worked great and cost about $10 to make. You could extend this idea to any style of plastic rack. Good luck! Matt Matthew B. Hamilton, PhD Associate Professor Georgetown University Department of Biology, Regents Hall 506 37th and O Streets NW Washington, DC 20057 202-687-5924 office 202-687-5662 fax 202-784-7105, 202-784-7181 lab http://hamiltonlabpage.weebly.com http://reuenvscigeorgetown.weebly.com Dear Nik, I have ordered and constructed 3D-printed magnetic stands and I have been using them for 3 years now. The designs I got were from here: https://www.thingiverse.com/acadey/designs, both for 96-well plates and for eppendorfs. I had them printed and assembled with the magnets at Make Creative Spaces (Thessaloniki, Greece) and you can actually see them here: https://www.make.gr/en/portfolio-items/laboratory-equipment-biolab/ Regarding the magnets, we followed the instructions of the designer (acadey). We did this in 2014 and at the time, we paid for both stands with the magnets cost plus assembly plus shipping, so everything, around 400 euros. And I agree, commercial stands are ridiculously expensive for a piece of plastic. I hope this information helps! Dafni Here's a link to a short article I wrote about the magnetic plates I printed (48 and 96 wells): http://www.jordanrbrock.com/blog/96-well-magnetic-separator-homemade It includes a link to the files needed to print it, but also check out thingverse.com for other magnetic plate and stand designs. Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck! Best, Jordan Hi Nik, We bought neodymium magnets on the web and taped them onto other bits and pieces of lab kit and they worked pretty well. Takes a bit of time to get the angles right but does the job! Best, Mark You can buy small, very powerful "rare earth" magnets very cheaply online. To save even more money, ask all of your friends for their broken headphones (or collect them from the trash on the side of the road) and smash them open, there's a small powerful magnet inside each one. Drill holes in whatever scrap wood or plastic you have handy, glue the magnets in, and you've got yourself a magnet stand. For extra satisfaction, print out a picture of an expensive magnet stand (including the price) and paste it to the side of your homemade stand, to remind yourself every time you use it how much money you saved. John McDonald Department of Biological Sciences University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 19716 USA -- "I don't care that they stole my idea . . . I care that they don't have any of their own. " â euro - Nikola Tesla PhD Zoology candidate Room 225 Division of Animal Evolutionary Biology Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University in Prague ViniÃ" na 7, 128 44 Praha Czech Republic Nik Lupse