Aha! Good man Dale!

Let the slicing begin!
Hmm, the thickness, I'm really not sure but maybe between 100-200µ if I had to estimate. Hand-sectioning has a slightly different goal to paraffin-wax embedded sections in that the overall morphology is most evident and desired, as in my section. The original colours are also obviously present and the tissue is to a large extent still alive and as a result cytoplasmic flows etc may be observed with practice if desired.
It can be seen in my section that the gelatinous-core of the (succulent) Aloe leaf is entirely present and visible - this isn't the case with the fully processed histological sections. In a nutshell the thicker and living tissue from a hand microtome gives a different perspective to that of the paraffin-wax sections that I cut between about 4µ and 15µ (a good range for botanicals).
Remember also that it is
entirely possible and honestly quite
easy to permanently-mount hand sections onto slides for virtually permanent collection and leisurely perusal! Every time I revisit my slides I discover something new - I often 'wander about' a slide because new details and information always 'pop up', especially as each time I return to my slides I have the benefit of more knowledge (hopefully

).
Here are a couple of examples, some close-ups of the hand section,

- ws_700x525_aloe_leaf_xs-4.jpg (89.73 KiB) Viewed 6066 times
and vasculature also visible,

- websize_vessels_in_aloe_leaf.JPG (160.34 KiB) Viewed 6066 times
These are from the paraffin-wax sections for comparison,
The sections straight from the microtome before de-waxing and processing,

- ws_700x525_DSCN2073.jpg (61.32 KiB) Viewed 6066 times
This could be though of as an equivalent 'overall' view as seen of a fully processed, sectioned, stained and mounted sample,

- ws_x4_aloe_leaf_xs.jpg (127.13 KiB) Viewed 6066 times
As you can see, the hand sections have very different and perhaps more beautiful properties to the 10 & 16µ versions.
A little staining can really bring out details too - have a look at my posts on hand sectioning, there are lots of pictures and examples of what may be achieved.
Good luck!
p.s. shame you're in the US, I've just decided to sell my rocking-microtome as I now have a rotary.. You'll start looking at rockers soon after starting with the hand microtome..........that's what happened to me!
Enjoy!
