stains can't get it yet.

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MicroInspector
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stains can't get it yet.

#1 Post by MicroInspector » Sat Jul 30, 2016 4:50 am

What can you get for a stain subusitute until you afford to by the stains?
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hkv
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#2 Post by hkv » Sat Jul 30, 2016 6:55 am

Go to the pharmacy and buy a small bottle of iodine. Very cheap. Here is one for $7.

http://astore.amazon.com/laborarecipe-2 ... B000V4RPRQ

Also read this article which are trying simple food coloring agents found in super markets. Hard to find anything cheaper than that...

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... tains.html

Third option would be to "stain" in a virtual way using different illumination techniques. If you have not tried "darkfield", you may find that interesting and bring out new details not seen in brightfield. I do not know if your scope is pre-equipped with a darkfield condenser, otherwise there are some DIY solutions. Google or search on this forum and you will find plenty of information.
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MicroInspector
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#3 Post by MicroInspector » Sat Jul 30, 2016 3:29 pm

Thanks check in to that and add it to my kit....
The microscope reveals the truth of life.
Omax M82EZ microscope

apatientspider
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#4 Post by apatientspider » Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:10 am

Tincture of iodine makes an excellent stain for some subjects, particularly starchy things. But $7 an ounce, as in the link, is way too much to pay for it.

Try some natural or organic things such as juice from cooked beets, blue or purple grape juice, dark red wine, black or other berries, etc. Generally anything that will stain your clothing or fingers will probably make a usable microscope stain. I read one article not long ago which spoke of using fountain pen ink for staining blood smears.

Something else you might try: Obtain a few very rusty steel nails or other iron and soak them in a small glass container of mostly vinegar and a little tap water - white vinegar works best - for a few days. Filter or skim the liquid off and use it as stain. It will turn wood anywhere from a light gray to blue-black color, depending on the tannic acid content of the species. It should work on other things besides wood, too. I know it stains white cotton T-shirts really well. :lol:

Jim

billbillt
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#5 Post by billbillt » Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:42 pm

apatientspider wrote:Tincture of iodine makes an excellent stain for some subjects, particularly starchy things. But $7 an ounce, as in the link, is way too much to pay for it.

Try some natural or organic things such as juice from cooked beets, blue or purple grape juice, dark red wine, black or other berries, etc. Generally anything that will stain your clothing or fingers will probably make a usable microscope stain. I read one article not long ago which spoke of using fountain pen ink for staining blood smears.

Something else you might try: Obtain a few very rusty steel nails or other iron and soak them in a small glass container of mostly vinegar and a little tap water - white vinegar works best - for a few days. Filter or skim the liquid off and use it as stain. It will turn wood anywhere from a light gray to blue-black color, depending on the tannic acid content of the species. It should work on other things besides wood, too. I know it stains white cotton T-shirts really well. :lol:

Jim
Thanks for the tips!..

BillT

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MicroInspector
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#6 Post by MicroInspector » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:16 pm

From a video I saw on staining
They put the culture on the slide and let dry on the slide than stain it and letting g the stain dry on the culture
Then light rinse the slide .

What you think?

I read in this forum about bacteria culture
From routing meat or a dead animal
Is highly risky health hazard
Note the safe of getting some type bacteria culture is
Planning flat yogurt.
The microscope reveals the truth of life.
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Tom Jones
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#7 Post by Tom Jones » Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:19 am

Not quite...

The specimen is smeared onto the slide, allowed to air dry, then mildly heat fixed, generally by flaming in a bunsen burned flame. My first microbiology professor told us to pass the slide (smear up) back and forth through the flame a few times, then lay the bottom of the slide onto the back of your hand. If you hear the sound of sizzling flesh, the slide was too hot!

You are heat fixing the specimen to the slide so it doesn't wash off. You are not cooking it.

After the slide cools apply the stain for the required time (which varies by specimen type, specimen thickness, stain type, stain concentration, etc.) WITHOUT letting it dry. Then rinse with the appropriate solvent(s) and air dry.

There are many hundreds, if not thousands of staining methods. You need something appropriate for your specimen and what you're looking to see. Not to mention something you can actually get your hands on that won't try to kill you.

I would suggest you go to your library and look at some basic microbiology or histology (depending on your interest) textbooks. Read the appropriate sections. Staining can be very complex, and there are very specific reagents and procedures you will want to learn about and follow if you want to do something serious. Good staining technique can actually be an art.

Videos will be specific to individual specimen type and probably individual stains. Most of the ones I've seen are supplemental material for a lab class somewhere, and leave out a lot of things discussed in class.

And unless you have a fondness for emergency room visits and infectious disease docs, stay away from rotting anything and dead animals. It's a really bad place for amateurs to play. Learn how to do this stuff safely first.

Tom

wallyrut
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#8 Post by wallyrut » Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:10 pm

An excellent stain is Methylene blue. You can buy this cheaply at pet supply stores. It is sold as an anti-bacterial agent for fish tanks.

Wally

apatientspider
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#9 Post by apatientspider » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:19 pm

There is an excellent book on this subject available to read online, or one can download it for free.

It is Principles of Biological Microtechnique: A Study of Fixation and Dyeing by John R. Baker. One may find it here: https://archive.org/details/principlesofbiol01bake

I have a hard copy here at home, but I wasn't certain it was available online until I got around to looking for it - hence my tardiness in posting about it. It's a good book - older, but it has all the basics, including how various stains and dyes are made and work.

There are several other works available online concerning this topic, but their exact titles escape me at the moment. When I can find time to get my other computer back up and running I'll look and see what I have in it and post the titles and online links.

Jim

billbillt
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#10 Post by billbillt » Sun Aug 28, 2016 2:35 pm

Thanks for the link!.. It appears that this person MicroInspector is AWOL...

BillT

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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#11 Post by mrsonchus » Sun Aug 28, 2016 4:35 pm

billbillt wrote:Thanks for the link!.. It appears that this person MicroInspector is AWOL...

BillT
Missing him already........
John B

billbillt
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#12 Post by billbillt » Sun Aug 28, 2016 4:41 pm

HEAR!!..HEAR!!..(HA!)

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mrsonchus
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#13 Post by mrsonchus » Sun Aug 28, 2016 4:45 pm

apatientspider wrote:There is an excellent book on this subject available to read online, or one can download it for free.

It is Principles of Biological Microtechnique: A Study of Fixation and Dyeing by John R. Baker. One may find it here: https://archive.org/details/principlesofbiol01bake

I have a hard copy here at home, but I wasn't certain it was available online until I got around to looking for it - hence my tardiness in posting about it. It's a good book - older, but it has all the basics, including how various stains and dyes are made and work.

There are several other works available online concerning this topic, but their exact titles escape me at the moment. When I can find time to get my other computer back up and running I'll look and see what I have in it and post the titles and online links.

Jim
Very handy Jim - I downloaded this yesterday and as you say it's full of ideas that are easily translated into today's available kit & chemistry etc. The principles, certainly that a 'home amateur' such as myself uses for histology, are very similar and relevant indeed.

I use several books re-printed that are over 100 years old - they contain great secrets! Here are a couple of pictures:
chamberlain.jpg
chamberlain.jpg (28.58 KiB) Viewed 6836 times
zimmermann.jpg
zimmermann.jpg (33.73 KiB) Viewed 6836 times
Both 'ancient' and both superbly useful! :D :)
John B

billbillt
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Re: stains can't get it yet.

#14 Post by billbillt » Sun Aug 28, 2016 4:49 pm

Thanks John for the heads up on these wonderful old volumes..

BillT

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