What to do with an old micrometer?

[rabitt]

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Put this together the other day from a well used micrometer.
Held together with setscrew and can be taken apart for cleaning.
The piston is drilled for the shaft.

[KurtM]

Very good ... now go to the grocery or drug store and buy some old fashioned doubled-edged "safety razors", which, believe it or not, are still commonly available (would anybody really shave with those diabolical things in today's world?). Carefully fold one in half lengthwise, and it'll snap in two. Super glue one half to a popsicle stick, and you have good little super thin ultra sharp knife. You'll find it much sharper than the single-edge ones.

[rabitt]

Thanks for the info, will hunt for those double edge blades.

[apatientspider]

Very good ... now go to the grocery or drug store and buy some old fashioned doubled-edged "safety razors", which, believe it or not, are still commonly available (would anybody really shave with those diabolical things in today's world?). Carefully fold one in half lengthwise, and it'll snap in two. Super glue one half to a popsicle stick, and you have good little super thin ultra sharp knife. You'll find it much sharper than the single-edge ones.

Ahem. Yes, some would really shave with those "diabolical things" - if they shave at all; in fact, some of us geezers have been using the same safety razor since their teens. If you find that surprising, consider that there are relatively young dinosaurs out there who are straight or cutthroat razor enthusiasts. They even have their own website and forum: http://straightrazorplace.com/ More surprising are the kinds of prices they pay for good razors, the hones to sharpen them, and all the other accoutrements of wet shaving.

But I like your idea of gluing half a razor blade to a popsicle stick for a makeshift section cutter. And they are much sharper than single edge blades.


And Rabitt, that has to be the cleverest idea for a do-it-yourself microtome I've ever seen.


Jim

[rabitt]

Actually credit must go to Raymond F. Yates who's book 'Fun With Your Microscope' copyright in 1943. I've had the book since
my youth. It is listed on the free book down load sites but do to the chemicals used for projects as slide preparation, staining as well
as projects dealing with electricity they will not down load it. He wrote several books dealing with fun things to do for children back then. If you Google him there is much info, all of his books are out of copyright. Well worth finding his microscope book.
If you want I can post the microtome instructions as a PDF file, let me know.

[KurtM]

Ahem.

You know what, I actually was aware of the straight razor enthusiasts (and forum!) out there, but had forgotten about it. But even then, I'd rather use a cutthroat razor than one of those horrid old "safety razors" that were (are?) practically guaranteed to draw more or less blood with every shave. But then, I always kinda liked the sharp sting of a styptic pencil, which I miss since I haven't nicked myself shaving since taking up the Mach 3 about 500 years ago. I use Harry's now for an even more pleasant - and cheaper! - shave.

Back to topic, I would think that straight razors would be the better bet for microtome work by virtue of the longer blade, and learning to strop blades is a whole lot easier than learning to sharpen a knife on a whet stone.

And learning to sharpen any blade using any method is lots easier when you use a stereo microscope to monitor results.

[DaveH]

Very good ... now go to the grocery or drug store and buy some old fashioned doubled-edged "safety razors", which, believe it or not, are still commonly available (would anybody really shave with those diabolical things in today's world?). Carefully fold one in half lengthwise, and it'll snap in two. Super glue one half to a popsicle stick, and you have good little super thin ultra sharp knife. You'll find it much sharper than the single-edge ones.

Ahem. Yes, some would really shave with those "diabolical things" - if they shave at all; in fact, some of us geezers have been using the same safety razor since their teens. If you find that surprising, consider that there are relatively young dinosaurs out there who are straight or cutthroat razor enthusiasts. They even have their own website and forum: http://straightrazorplace.com/ More surprising are the kinds of prices they pay for good razors, the hones to sharpen them, and all the other accoutrements of wet shaving.

But I like your idea of gluing half a razor blade to a popsicle stick for a makeshift section cutter. And they are much sharper than single edge blades.


And Rabitt, that has to be the cleverest idea for a do-it-yourself microtome I've ever seen.


Jim

Yes there are some of us out there, I often us a rolls, and at the moment I'm using a star lather catcher.

I think a straight razor is a good bet for the microtome and the idea of using half a double edge blade is better than a modern single edge blade as most of them are scraper blades with a poor cutting edge.

Dave

[Dale]

My pet project for an old mic is to mount it horizontily on a stereoscope stage. Then take a
hypodermic syringe needle with just the smallest amount of adhesive on the pointy end and
capture some of the really tiny bugs for study. The other end of the needle has a cup
that will slip over the piston. The specimen could then be rotated, and moved fore and aft
in small increments. someday.............
Dale

[apatientspider]

Ahem.

Back to topic, I would think that straight razors would be the better bet for microtome work by virtue of the longer blade, and learning to strop blades is a whole lot easier than learning to sharpen a knife on a whet stone.


And learning to sharpen any blade using any method is lots easier when you use a stereo microscope to monitor results.

I'm no straight razor enthusiast or expert, but even cutthroat razors have to be touched up on a stone of some kind now and then. And used ones usually have to be re-conditioned with several stone grades, before stropping will do much good. I've done lots of knife and woodworking tool sharpening with stones and actually they are easier to sharpen than a razor would be. A stereo microscope is a great way to monitor results - especially for a razor.

I own a hand microtome similar to those nicer ones on eBay, courtesy of Kurt's generousity some years ago. It came with an ordinary straight razor of the type one would use for shaving. However, many years ago Spencer Lens Company offered both in their catalog and referred to the knife as a section cutter most often. It certainly looks like a straight razor, but it is a good deal longer and heavier. Recently I was able to snap one up off eBay, made in Germany for American Optical / Spencer. I've seen them before, but always got outbid by straight razor collectors, even though they aren't really straight razors.

I have read, but haven't tried it, that a blade from a woodworker's plane is often sharpen enough to give good results with a hand microtome. Some workers do get them incredibly sharp.

Lastly I must apologize for my tardy return to this thread; I've been busy caring for one of my cats, which I'm afraid is in a bad way. Maybe he'll make it though - very tough creatures cats are.

Jim

[Interference]

Has anyone tried a Rolls blade on a 'tome?
Looking at the one I have under a stereo, the edge doesn't look particularly good to me. My "strop" is dry though. The advce on what to put on it, is rather random.

[billbillt]

I think saddle soap is good for leather...

BillT

[DaveH]

Has anyone tried a Rolls blade on a 'tome?
Looking at the one I have under a stereo, the edge doesn't look particularly good to me. My "strop" is dry though. The advce on what to put on it, is rather random.

Hi if you want to sort your Rolls out then have a look at this link.
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/t ... zor.22371/
It will tell all you need to know in order to get your Rolls back to as new working condition, is not that hard but the strop must be supple. If the Rolls blade is big enough for your use then it's a perfect blade to use on a small microtome.

Dave

[Interference]

I thought I was going to recognise the thread you linked to Dave, but no, the ones (2 or 3) I'd seen were different. These things have a cult following.
Apart from Rolls' original advice about the strop, with their special products, there seems to be no real consensus on what to use.
FWIW I found I could easily sharpen the razor to slice a hair longitudinally, but looking at the blade very close (x500), it's pretty rough.


Something else which is "elephant in the room" status, it seems to me, is how you use a blade. Microtomes always (? other than vibrotomes) just cut straight across. I would suggest that most of us, given a "hand" microtome and a blade a few inches long, would use a shearing motion, ie use a shallow angle between the edge of the blade and the direction it's moving. Perhaps 30º, not 90º. Then, do you use a stroke movement parallel with the edge of the blade as well? That's not just a slightly shallower angle, it has more of a single stroke "saw" effect. Imagine a small notch in the blade against a harder fibre through the stem. A and B just push it through, whereas with C the fibre might be dented or nicked by the notch so the fibre springs away some, then is more likely to be cut by the adjacent piece of sharp edge next to the notch,
viz:

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[DaveH]

Hi I'm in danger of going way of topic, when it comes to cutting sections I'm not your man, there are other members on here that consistently post images of what I can only describe as perfect sections maybe they can join in and give some advice. I can't see any difference between using a traditional microtome blade and a straight razor they are both maintained in the same way, I use original Rolls strop past on my Rolls razors, it is an abrasive past this is probably to compensate for the small strop. A similar product is Dovo red strop past, but any strop past won't bring back a dead strop. You may already know but you can probably tell the age of your Rolls by looking at the blade the two numbers on the spine are the year of manufactur. My way of thinking is that if the strop has been laying around for 50 or 60 years it should have been dressed between 2 and 4 times a year to keep it in good condition so it's missing between 100 to 200 dressings. Neetsfoot Oil seems to be the product recommend by many to revive the strop back to a soft supple condition.

Dave

Edit, I think if you look at any cutting edge at 500x it will look more like a log saw rather than a fine cutting edge, I look at mine at 40x and just look for a straight edge without any chips

[Interference]

Gandhi was assassinated, Land prduced a Polaroid camera and quantum physics took hold.
And my dad got a Rolls razor!
1948

By the way check a modern disposable razor - they're pretty amazing edges. Often a very hard cutting blade spot welded to a less brittle support.

[SteveSteve]

Does anyone have an answer to Interference's A, B or C question?
Cheers
Steve

[Metrophage]

Very good ... now go to the grocery or drug store and buy some old fashioned doubled-edged "safety razors", which, believe it or not, are still commonly available (would anybody really shave with those diabolical things in today's world?). Carefully fold one in half lengthwise, and it'll snap in two. Super glue one half to a popsicle stick, and you have good little super thin ultra sharp knife. You'll find it much sharper than the single-edge ones.

God damn you are sharp KurtM! Been scratching my head all week trying to source a scaple. What an elegant and low cost solution.