Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

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Seta
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Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#1 Post by Seta » Mon Apr 05, 2021 3:58 pm

Hi,

My first weeks trying to mount water specimens have been quite frustrating, crushing most of them under coverslip pressure.
I was going to buy some parfocal spacers but then I tried plumbers aluminium tape and it works like a charm. I do not know if anyone is using a similar solution

It is 0.05mm thick, you can cut it to measure(for 22x22 and 18x18 coverslips) and stack few layers until you get the thickness you need.
I fit a couple of these with different thickness on a slide and I can reuse it later if I want to..

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#2 Post by DonSchaeffer » Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:04 pm

You can also get slides with a well. The well gives you a depth to protect specimens a little. The only down side is that they can move more.

Seta
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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#3 Post by Seta » Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:27 pm

DonSchaeffer wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:04 pm
You can also get slides with a well. The well gives you a depth to protect specimens a little. The only down side is that they can move more.
I have some of those as well but still not deep enough for some subjects, with this method I can adjust depth as I need. Sure there must be better solutions, is just one I came with and wanted to share it

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#4 Post by dtsh » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:02 pm

There are also other slides, McMaster and heamacytometer, usually used for counting, but can work for other purposes. The depth of the McMaster is probably too much for all but the largest of critters. The problem with well slides, McMaster, etc is that there's still quite a bit of depth to them and some objectives will be unable to utilize it all.
I have read of other people using dabs of petroleum jelly at the corners and resting the cover slip on that to gain a little more space too.

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Wes
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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#5 Post by Wes » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:56 pm

I use a syringe with petroleum jelly/vaseline to make a fine border on the coverslip. Make sure to leave a gap so when you press on the coverslip with a needle ot fine tweezers the extra water has a passageway to escape your chamber. Thus you can regulate the thickness of the sample and apply just enough pressure to trap the organisms you want to study without crushing them.

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#6 Post by zzffnn » Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:58 am

Many people use petroleum jelly, because you can press it to make it thinner and it kind of prevents water from leaking.

Aluminum foil for oven cooking, transparent tape, plastic fil wraps, may also work, depending on your sample thickness.

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#7 Post by Seta » Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:15 am

Thanks, I did try vaseline once but ended up being I mess, I will try with the syringe.

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#8 Post by DonSchaeffer » Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:11 pm

I typically use the 60x or 40x objective. I can't have any bumps in my sample or on the cover glass. I would get a lens crash.

Seta
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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#9 Post by Seta » Tue Apr 06, 2021 4:32 pm

DonSchaeffer wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:11 pm
I typically use the 60x or 40x objective. I can't have any bumps in my sample or on the cover glass. I would get a lens crash.
The coverglass does not have any bumps; I have used the 40x air and the 40 and 100 Oil with this method

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#10 Post by DonSchaeffer » Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:04 pm

I always have to look at the spacing between slide and cover glass using a magnifier from the side. I try to squeeze them tight together.

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#11 Post by PeteM » Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:56 am

The foil tape idea is pretty clever, IMO. Pretty clean mount vs. something like Vaseline, with just a bit of water escaping at first. Could also be easily done to allow adding water from the side to keep a mount fresh (with the gap in the foil maybe mid-side). Provides a consistent and reproducible cavity that should be just right for some specimens.

I've also wondered if we could get more use out of epi scopes (brightfield, darkfield, polarization, dic) for biological purposes if they had a reflective backing so we'd see not just the surface but light reflected through and back??

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Re: Using aluminium tape to make spacers for water sample specimens

#12 Post by Seta » Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:03 am

PeteM wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:56 am
The foil tape idea is pretty clever, IMO. Pretty clean mount vs. something like Vaseline, with just a bit of water escaping at first....
Thanks Pete; yesterday I tried the vaseline and although it works I kind of prefer the aluminium foil. One advantage of the Vaseline though is you can press it to make a tight fit. I will use both methods

I did not leave any opening on the foil but you can slide it and add water if you wish, sliding it also allows to rotate the subject if its position is not the one you want. You have to be careful because the aluminium is made of thin fibres, you have to make sure the cut area is clean before placing the subject in.

The aluminium spacers can be good for permanent slides, something I will try too.

Here you can see cut squares for 22x22 and 18x18 coverslips; one is 0,2mm thick (4 layers) and the other 0,1mm thick (2 layers); it is dirty because I reused it few times. One slide has enough room for 3 of these spacers, maybe 0,5 0,1 and 0,15 and use as you wish
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The adhesive part is reflective too, so maybe you can try it for EPI but I would suggest white paper better, the reflections will not be so wild. Just stick it on the underside.

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