I have been looking for a while for an affordable lysis method that does require less or no reagents.
Generally sonication is the best solution however sonicators can be quite expensive.
It is possible to buy the sonicator head but it needs to be machined and that requires expensive tools and know-how.
This is only mechanically tested at this point so I cannot supply specific protocols but I enumerate potential ones.
The whole project needs just a 3D printed (ABS) small adapter and a common fairly inexpensive tool one might already have in the toolbox.
Do not operate this tool close to your eyes or do something equally unwise. Maybe try it first with the head and tubes inside a plastic jar or a box in case your print is not correct. Normally this tool require you to wear safety glasses.
This tool is very powerful so it should be able to lyse large tubes like 15 or 50 ml too. That should be useful for protein production. I did not provide a model for the 50ml tube holder but I can do that on demand by changing the parameters in the existing one.
I have pictures, videos and all the construction is very simple. Just so you can understand the difference in power, my lab vortex does about 3000 oscillations per minute and can vibrate a small plastic tube. The oscillating tool can do 20 000 oscillations per minute and can cut metal. Besides that, the rigid coupling between the tool and tube should amplify the power a lot. So I believe it’s at least 10 times more efficient (violent). I expect that to result in lysis times to drop proportionally.
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Enjoy,
Adrian