MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I see that you do not surrender, that's good. In my opinion the sample pieces were too big and did not manage fixing and dehydrating. My sample pieces were not larger than 3-4mm. After fixation and dehydration through a series of alkochol the sample lose their chlorophyll and become almost transpar...

, and they keep coming down in price Couldn't you resharpen it? (sorry if my question is too ignorant). My first thought too - but the more I read about sharpening the knife the more daunting the task appears to be! The rocker doesn't take disposable-blade holders so it's a new knife or dive into t...

Had a quick go at the tiny stem-like xs today - the new blocks are proving very difficult to get a decent set of sections from - again! Anyway, here's a couple of rather unclear pictures of 'something' found in my first (failed) set of blocks - the ones that were mushy! I think this is a tiny stem -...

I have nothing useful to add. But I feel it would be remiss of me not to point out that the title sounds a lot like a hypothetical English town, as might be used in a period movie. "And this is our new vicar, Mr Peter Brown. He's from Measuringworth." ;) Hah - could even be a village in the perilou...

Same here gekko - I discovered some of these wierd things a long time ago when I first started looking at pollen with my first beginners 'scope - they really puzzled me at the time too! I had labelled them simply as 'mystery star things'.. :) Here are a couple of the images - I think one is phase-co...

Your super pictures have made me want to have a go at stacking 'properly'. Can you give any tips regarding the choice of focus levels for the stack - do you use a series of for example x-number-of-equidistant-focus-levels, or do you perhaps choose particular parts of the subject (moving of course in...

Superb and beautiful too!

Well done - that's a really pleasing drawing to look at - and you're clearly right, less is more as you have enabled the viewer to observe salient points that he/she may also observe when encountering this critter. That's the reason I much prefer books with drawings to those with photographs when se...

Hi all, quick update... I now have a set of 9 new wax-blocks containing stem-pieces from 2 Chrysanthemums, a white one and one of those unusually- green ones. :) The processing this time around went well and I'm reasonably optimistic about this new attempt.. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the time to st...

gekko & 75RR, thanks for your help - It is definitely worth a try, it does as you both say make sense... Sectioning a cell anywhere less than say 50% of it's thickness sounds like a recipe for trouble? I'll start at about 15µ and work slowly down to maybe 8µ and see how it goes! Thanks again you two...

Hi Mrsonchus, If you find the sections crumbling as they are being cut, then you may be able to remedy this "disastrous"situation by giving the block a spray with ladies hair spray. If you cut a hole about the size of your wax block in a piece of paper and places this over the block this will prote...

gekko - many thanks - you'll succumb in the end! When you start dreaming of the perfect 6µ section you know you're in trouble.... ;) 75RR - thanks for that good advice, it's definitely too early to publish anything yet, I've got to gather and sort all my various notes. I've notebooks, pictures, text...

Could I share it from my Google drive? (I'll do a quick test & see) Just looked up Google Drive - it would appear to be similar to Dropbox. So yes that will work. It might even count it! Just tested it - seems to work OK and I can set a folder or individual items to share via link - looks just the ...

That's a good idea - what would be the best way to make it easily accessible? You could use https://www.dropbox.com/ for example (it is free) - generate a link and post it here. Unfortunately Dropbox does not count the downloads - always nice to know if anyone has downloaded it. To count them all y...

That's a superb image, what version of PS are you using?
Lovely post - thanks.

75RR wrote: You might want to consider making a pdf if you have a lot of information and images.

Thanks for the update.

That's a good idea - what would be the best way to make it easily accessible?

I'm back - but only with some mediocre images! :( Well, I started a new batch of Chrysanthemums from scratch - the incubator was settling at 68 deg on it's own without intervention from the digital thermo-switch - all good I thought. It had happily kept my wax liquid all day and I was confident that...

Lovely pictures - I use a Canon camera and I can tell you it's a beauty - the control software is very good too.

Lovely detailed & clear image.

Great video - I suppose in the absence of a neck they have to twist their entire body to make a bite and tear off a chunk of the unfortunate snack! Love it - very interesting.

Great links - the first one is very good - the drawings are a great help for me as I know nothing about these but do enjoy the posts and pictures of them. Also it'll be useful to give to our Grandson who is just starting to peer down his teeny-tiny microscope at a few things! Thanks for the really u...

I for one can't help I'm afraid - I'm very happy with this site and it's affiliates. It may be more productive to your intentions or indeed more appropriate if you were to try posting your enquiry as a general share..

Best of luck with your project.

Hi Mrsonchus, Sorry I missed out a step, between "top up the mould with wax," and "blow gently on the surface" should be; reheat the forcep tips and pass them around the specimen to ensure the wax in it's proximity is homogenous (also a good time to orient the specimen in the block for best present...

Many thanks, John, for your input. I tend to agree with you in that all the pollen that I've seen is spherical or nearly so, and those are quite flat and, therefore, what you say makes sense to me, despite my ignorance. Perhaps they are some kind of spore. Had a thought, whereas pollen is, as far a...

Hi Gekko - nice images for sure. I've looked at lots of pollen under the 'scope since I started and I really don't think these are pollen grains... The tube-like structures don't look like pollen-tubes - they look far too rigid in their shape and direction of growth to me. Pollen tubes tend to be pr...

Superb images - really like them.

Hi all, good news! I've been reviewing some ribbons from my so-far disastrous efforts and the news is good.... On some ribbons I've examined under the 'scope I have seen actual properly cut sections of 6µ - I nearly ran about the garden screaming! :D (bit dark though and the dog would probably have ...

A real undertaking that obviously requires much patience, doggedness, and dexterity. I'm very impressed with all the things that you have to deal with, learn, and overcome. Being too lazy and incompetent to tread there, I shall simply enjoy the beautiful results that I know will be forthcoming, and...

Hi Mrsonchus, To try and help avoid cavities around specimens when embedding in paraffin blocks; half fill the mould with paraffin, heat the forceps tip in a flame then put the forceps tips in to the wax in the mould to create a pool of superheated wax, place your specimen in this pool and then top...

This series is great! I am enjoying your updates very much. CE Thanks Eddie - that's a really nice thing to hear! :) I'm starting again with better subject-selection and an overall tightened-up protocol! I'm enjoying this learning-curve immensely, I've had far more success than failure - however fa...