The IPD9600-4M is the 4 mm stainless steel grinding ball for the Benchmark Industrial IPD9600 BeadBlaster 96 Ball Mill Homogenizer — sold as bulk bag of 5000 balls at $981 (~$0.20 per ball). The 4 mm bead is the smallest stainless steel ball in the catalog — paired with 96-well plate workflows (sister to the IPD1196-40 prefilled bead plate which uses 4 mm beads pre-loaded into every well).
Key Specifications
| SKU | IPD9600-4M |
| Type | 4 mm stainless steel grinding ball — bulk consumable |
| Bead diameter | 4 mm (smallest SS ball in catalog) |
| Material | Stainless steel |
| Pack quantity | Bag of 5000 balls (per-ball cost ~$0.20) |
| Compatible chassis | IPD9600 BeadBlaster 96 |
| Brochure-paired sample vessel | 96-well plate workflows (paired with IPD1196-40 prefilled bead plate format and IPD1196-MP sample plates with operator-loaded beads) |
| Sister bead-size SKUs | IPD9600-38S (3/8 in / 9.5 mm SS, 1000/pk, $981.00), IPD9600-10BS (10 mm SS, 500 g bulk, $153), IPD9600-25BS (25 mm SS, each, $63) |
| List price | $981 |
Why 4 mm — 96-Well Plate / Tissue Lysis Workflow
The 4 mm bead is the standard size for 96-well plate bead-mill workflows and tissue / cell-lysis applications:
- 96-well plate workflow — bead size matched to typical 96-well deep-well plate well dimensions; multiple 4 mm beads per well typical (3-5 beads per well)
- Tissue homogenization — sufficient kinetic energy for animal / plant tissue cell lysis without over-grinding
- Microbial cell lysis — bacterial / yeast / fungal cell lysis at 96-well plate format
- Smaller beads = smaller per-impact kinetic energy = appropriate for soft tissues / cell suspensions vs harder samples
The IPD9600-4M provides bulk bead inventory for operators using IPD1196-MP sample plates (operator loads beads vs the prefilled IPD1196-40 plate that ships with beads pre-loaded). The 5000-pack supports a substantial workflow throughput — typical 96-well workflow uses 3-5 beads per well = 288-480 beads per plate; the 5000-pack supports ~10-17 plates of bulk-loaded workflow.
IPD9600 Stainless Steel Grinding Ball Family — Bulk-Pack Comparison
| SKU | Bead size | Pack | Per-ball cost | Best for sample vessel |
| IPD9600-4M (this product) | 4 mm | 5000/bag ($981) | $0.20 | 96-well plate workflows (paired with IPD1196 prefilled plate + sample plate family) |
| IPD9600-38S | 3/8 in (9.5 mm) | 1000/bag ($981.00) | $0.70 | 4 mL vial workflows (paired with IPD9600-48) |
| IPD9600-10BS | 10 mm | 500 g bulk ($153) | ~$3 | 25–50 mL grinding jars |
| IPD9600-25BS | 25 mm | Each ($63) | $63 | 50 mL grinding jars |
Bead-size to vessel-volume scaling: The 4 mm bead is smallest in the family — matched to the smallest workflow vessel (96-well deep-well plate at 0.5–2.0 mL per well). Larger sample volumes need larger bead sizes for proportional kinetic-energy-to-volume scaling.
Application Profile
96-well plate tissue / cell-lysis workflows — high-throughput tissue homogenization for downstream nucleic-acid extraction, protein extraction at the 96-well plate format.
RNA-Seq / NGS library prep at scale — high-throughput sample prep feeding sequencing core operations.
Microbial cell lysis — bacterial / yeast / fungal cell-lysis at 96-well plate format.
Method-development workflows — protocol-development at the 96-well plate format.
Multi-investigator shared chassis — facilities running daily 96-well plate workflows benefit from the bulk-bead inventory.
IPD1196-MP sample plate workflow — labs using the IPD1196-MP (operator-loaded) sample plate (vs IPD1196-40 prefilled plate) need bulk bead inventory.
Ordering & Configuration
Pair with workflow stack. Confirm IPD9600 chassis + IPD9600-96 base 96-well plate adapter + IPD1196-MP sample plate (or IPD1196-40 prefilled plate if not using bulk beads).
Pair with EVA cap mat. Pair with IPD1196-CM ($102) for plate sealing during bead-mill cycle.
5000-pack consumption. The 5000-pack supports many cycles at typical 96-well usage (3-5 beads per well × 96 wells per plate = 288-480 beads per plate). Plan replenishment per workflow throughput (sequencing-core operations may consume the 5000-pack monthly to quarterly).
Confirm at quote: chassis pairing, 96-well plate adapter inventory (IPD9600-96), sample plate selection (IPD1196-MP requires bulk beads vs IPD1196-40 prefilled), EVA cap mat (IPD1196-CM) inventory, workflow throughput, and lead time.
Warranty: Per Benchmark Industrial standard consumable terms — confirm at quote.
Benchmark Industrial IPD9600 96-well plate bead-mill workflow stack:
- IPD9600-96 — 96-well plate base adapter, set of 2 ($1,419, REQUIRED base)
- IPD1196-40 — 96-well plate prefilled with 4 mm beads, 10/pk ($2,117) — convenience format
- IPD1196-MP — 96 deep-well 2.0 mL plate ($104) — operator-loaded format
- IPD1196-CM — EVA cap mat for plate sealing ($102)
- IPD9600-4M (this product) — 4 mm SS grinding balls, 5000/pk ($981) — bulk bead supply for IPD1196-MP workflow
Pick the IPD9600-4M for bulk bead inventory paired with the IPD1196-MP sample plate workflow; alternative bead sizes (IPD9600-38S / -10BS / -25BS) cover other sample-vessel formats.
