Home-made fluorometer?

[Susan Jane Hogarth]

Hi,

I'm thinking about making a fluorometer for myself. I'm not sure why the
commercial ones are so expensive - is it the light source? Has anyone
out there built one? In principle, it seems like a simple thing; any
reason it couldn't be easily done with a half-decent machince shop and a
pretty good knowledge of electronics (that would be my other half:)

Any ideas? Suggestions?
Thanks
-- 
Susan 
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/s/sjhogart/public/home.html

Louis Agassiz, about Lorenz Oken (1885) (quoted from S.J.Gould, 1977):
"Constructing the universe out of his own brain, deducing from
 _a priori_ conceptions all the relations of the three kingdoms
 into which he divided all living beings, classifying the animals
 as if by magic, in accordance with an analogy based on the 
dismembered body of man, it seemed to us who listened that the slow
 laborious process of accumulating precise detailed knowledge 
could only be the work of drones, while a generous, commanding 
spirit might build the world out of its own powerful imagination."