MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

gekko wrote: I have a collection of knives as well as a couple of hundred disposable blades and blade holder for the newest microtome. Should last a lifetime.

Especially if you never use them.
Peter.

Hi Jorge,
Welcome to the forum.
Peter.

Hi HKV, Use them, they may be beautiful but they were designed and built as working tools (that's my opinion anyway). My microtome has two cams which are operated using ball and socket joints the sockets are plastic, the plastic material perished leaving the microtome inoperable until I made new pla...

hi Sunrune,
I can't tell you which microscope to buy, however in my opinion DIC is worth it.
Peter.

Hi QCC,
Can you tell us how long it took you to prepare these slides, it can give a real handle on the value of the commercially prepared ones.
I think after the 1200 grit you need to polish your specimen with rouge.
Peter.

Hi Crater Eddie, I would use. De solv it, artificial orange oil, to remove the sticky labels (test it on the ones on the back cover first ). My suggestion for fixing the front cover is to carefully remove the spiral then fix the torn edge back as well as you can, perhaps using Sellotape, then lamina...

Hi 75RR,
I've not come across svelte before, had to look it up still not 100% sure of your meaning.
Zeiss tend to be a bit over the top.
Peter.

Hi 75RR,
What you might like to aspire to is the Zeiss AC stand (for ultimate stability).
Peter.

Hi Noel, Boiled water may in itself be sterile but it will not sterilise other things just simply clean them, isopropyl alcohol will have some sterilising effect. Reading your previous posts it would appear your problem is not sterilisation but with the elimination or exclusion of arthropods looking...

Hi Gekko, These two amoeba could be of the same genus something like A. vespertilio. Alternatively, one may originally have been trying to eat the other, this behaviour is not unheard of however, I have never observed that. Any amoeba I have observed coming into contact with each other have withdraw...

Hi Noel, I have never bothered to sterilise any item like fly's wings or mammal hair (which are dry and inert ), they are simply placed on a clean slide with Canada balsam and a cover slip dropped on. Sometimes air bubbles can be included with the specimens however, they can usually be teased out. I...

Hi Noel, for temporary mounts. I would normally use water or one of the essential oils, for permanent mounts Canada balsam. When you say there were "bugs"under the cover slip do you mean these were organisms which had grown from the flies wings, or organisms which had invaded under the cover slip af...

Hi Amu, I could not find a formulation for glycerin jelly with basic Fuchsin however my reading leads me to believe that 0.3% weight to volume may be an appropriate starting quantity. As for the alcohol, methylated spirits is 95% alcohol. Thymol appears to be a reasonably powerful fungicide so I wou...

Hi 75RR, The lower ring on the Optovar is for focusing the phase telescope, this may be a bit stiff or even frozen solid if the grease is very old or cold. If it is impossible to move the two rings independently then the Optovar will need to be dismantled and the mechanism cleaned and re-greased. Ho...

Hi Gekko,
Could this be the later stages of binary fission?
Peter.

Hi Mabholz,
I think your microtome set up as depicted may be less than optimal, I feel the carrot should fill the hole of the microtome, and if the scalple is the blade you using then the curved edge may not cut sections of uniform thickness, I would recommend straight edge blade.
Best of luck.
Peter.

Hi JB, looking at the stated ingredients of your stains, these look like they may be to Johansen's formulation, if so, they are intended to be used with differentiating solutions. I do not know either of the books in your links, however, do neither they, nor the suppliers of the stains not to tell y...

Hi JB,
What formulations are using when mixing your stain? For what amount of time are you staining, fast green should take between 10 and 20 minutes, safranin can take 1 to 3 days.
Peter.

Hi Crater Eddie,
Why not just use Canada balsam for making permanent mounts?
Peter.

hyla wrote: How do I go about figuring out the size of the eye piece tube?

Hi Hyla,
Use a Vernier or digital caliper.
Peter.

nawaz wrote:can Rheinberg be achieved with filter placed over light source

No.
Peter.

Hi Lorez,
The rotating stage can also be used when viewing with DIC to align the object with best advantage to the sheer of the contrast.
Peter.

Hi Lymia, I do not know these microscopes at all however I fell sure that a trinocular head would allow you to direct all the available light to the camera (which I think is one of your main concerns from your first post). It seems a pity you can not try these systems before you buy. Best of luck. P...

Hi, Lorez,
my impression, from the way the pseudopodia are pointing, is that the amoeba is attempting to "run" away from the advancing air water interface.
Peter.

lorez wrote:
my favorite bacteria using dark field is the spirochete. It squiggles.

Yes, and some of them move across the field of view like a bullet!
Peter.

Hi CE,
you are probably not going to see the full field of view on your computer monitor, but I guess if that's the way you view all the time you'll never miss the bits outside the monitor.
Peter.

Hi Lymia, A biological microscope is one which has the light passing through the object, as most biological material at a size small enough to be viewed by microscope is transparent, some may have colour but most e.g. bacteria are colourless. Texture is an almost meaningless concept when dealing wit...

Manfred asks "What is "Frankenscope"?" My guess would be that it is a monster scope created by assembling parts from dead scopes and bringing the assemblage to life with a jolt of electricity. My only concern is that this scope will turn on him and we will never hear from Lorez is again.
Peter.

Hi Walter,
The resolution you have achieved with the Amphipleura pellucida in your modern microscopy article is amazing, is the original film available on the web so that we can view it to assess the improvement made by your technique?
Great work.
Peter.

Hi justcurious,
Stomata are the pores on a leaf's surface. The two fat cells each side are called guard cells, these cells expand and contract to form openings in the leaf and regulate the flow of atmospheric gas into the body of the leaf.
Peter.