So, I was approached by Second Hand Science - they got 300+ vortex mixers called VM-1 in a liquidation sale, and are selling them on the website for GBP 119
They are wiling to sell to users of ELR for £55 (free UK shipping).
Note that there are no adapters, so you’ll have to make do with the 16/20mm thing on top to mix. The bottle lid should fit well into that rubber thingy though
This mixer will work best with a maximum of 50ml - any larger and the vortex swirl effect will diminish.
To see a vortex mixer (not this one) in action see here:
So, how do you order? Simple, send an email to Paul Collins - use the email paul
at secondhandscience.co.uk - Send shipping address etc and he will inform you of shipping price and send an invoice to you. You can pay any way you like, bank transfer etc - the options will be on the invoice. However, if you like the security that PayPal brings, that is also an option
UK shipping is free - If shipping outside UK, he will inform you of the price. Shipping should be cheap, because the device only weighs 600g.
Hi Lars. TY for sharing this. I’m not experienced with lab mixers but have an interest. As for the 20mm cup, does that mean we have to have our liquid in a vessel of comparable size or, as the video shows, just hold a larger container on top of it while mixing? Would that work? And how large of a quantity do you suppose could be mixed at a time? Even though small, this is a tremendous deal on a lab mixer. Thank you.
I will follow and consider this, even though i got my eyes on the SCILOGEX MX-S which doubles as a shaker. Just need to make “someone” get his ass on Discord and make a deal so he can ship it.
What is the difference between mixing and shaking? I’m not experienced with lab mixers but am interested in that first initial shake after making a recipe. I’ve been using both arms like a mad bartender shaking cocktails. Great exercise, but…
The vortex mixer available here will create a vortex swirl and mix that way. Some of them have a shake option too and plate elements to add instead of the “bevel rest” for doing an actual shake. One option will make a swirling motion (going around) while the other option will make it shake back and forth.
You can check this short video of SCILOGEX MX-S for an example:
I havent tried myself yet so i cannot confirm, but the one that i am interested in is a secondhand one where current owner gave me the impression (which i trust) that it works as intended
I am not 100% sure, but I guess that the 20mm cup would be adequate to create the necessary effect. Either by balancing the bottle on it, or turning it upside down and using the bottle lid I’m pretty sure that would work fine
They don’t have plans selling the adapters/plates - but perhaps those can be ordered from elsewhere? May be worth a little google research
As for mixing vs shaking - the result should be more or less the same. What you don’t want is a centrifuge, which would separate the liquid into its different components. Even though it looks like a sort of centrifuge, the vortex swirl should actually just mix the liquid (which is what it is used for in labs)
The invoice you get will list a number of payment options - you can pay any way you like, bank transfer etc - However, if you like the security PayPal brings, that is also an option. But if you are not in the UK, there’ll be fees and exchange rates (from PayPal)…
