My first successful use of a microtome

[DonSchaeffer]

I'm just a beginner at trhe age of 80.
This is my first reasonably successful use of the microtome
Angular cells of a pearl plant leaf.

cells2[1].jpg (64.6 KiB) Viewed 4124 times

caroy cells[2].jpg (69.23 KiB) Viewed 4124 times

[MicroBob]

Hi Don,
can you show more about your sectioning, perhaps a photo of you microtome and specimen?
Your photos look good but I'm not quite sure what I see.

Bob

[DonSchaeffer]

Will do. Coming up.

[DonSchaeffer]

I have a low cost hand-held microtome. I noticed that the elevator did not have sufficient range to bring my samples to the surface so I added a little foam rubber plug in the bottom of the elevator. I also use a similar plug to cut samples to fit in the elevator. The knife that came with the microtome is like an old-fashioned barber's razor. It appears to be sufficiently sharp.

[BramHuntingNematodes]

That's nice work, Don. Maybe someday I'll get my act together and we could trade slides.

[DonSchaeffer]

I'd love that!

[MicroBob]

Hi Don,
a useful material to embed plant parts in is a simple carrot. If you are interested in this method I can explain how to prepare the carrot.
Here in Germany we use blade holders for the use with cylinder microtomes. The advantage is that the edge of the blade never touches the surface of the table and stays sharp as long as possible. Your knife actually looks like a proper razor knife, not the junk that is often sold with cylinder microtomes today.

Bob

[DonSchaeffer]

Where do you get one of those blades?

[MicroBob]

Hi Don,
I actually sell these holders from time to time: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=7065&p=62601&hilit ... der#p62601
Very good blades are the ones from OLFA,Japan, the inventor of this kind of knifes with break-off blades.

Bob