I purchased some slides from a major supplier and this notice came with them.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196001110 ... ed-public/
The box they came in was designed to store slides on edge just like every slide box I have ever seen.
I am currently studying liver slides. Livers are really cool if you get into detail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CTyKLefn9E
I have about 6 different liver slides of various age and stains. The best slide I have was made by a biology student in... (wait for it)... 1939!
I spent most of my life in the automotive industry and lived through the EPA/OSHA mandated glue formulation changes. It came on so suddenly that the car companies didn't have time to retool to bosses and clips.
My mentor purchased a Lincoln MK 3 and was driving a Japanese businessman back to the airport when a huge chunk of genuine wood paneling fell off. (The Japanese businessman never let him up over "American C#@%".
I suspect that something similar has happened here unless it has taken them 200 years to notice that coverglasses slip?
But seriously is Canadian Balsam a health hazard and "known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects"?
Neal
Slide Storage
Re: Slide Storage
Pretty sure the slide boxes are meant to be opened horizontally but stored vertically.
Somewhat like a book the boxes lay flat for use, but are then shelved vertically. With the slides inserted in number sequence, the opening part of the box will be to the left.
Appreciated the "NinjaNerd" link.
An Ebay seller once shipped a bunch of once-decent-quality slides held together one on top of the other with rubber bands. About half of them were destroyed in the process - cracked and slipped cover slips etc. - as they violated most every suggestion for storing slides.
.
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Somewhat like a book the boxes lay flat for use, but are then shelved vertically. With the slides inserted in number sequence, the opening part of the box will be to the left.
Appreciated the "NinjaNerd" link.
An Ebay seller once shipped a bunch of once-decent-quality slides held together one on top of the other with rubber bands. About half of them were destroyed in the process - cracked and slipped cover slips etc. - as they violated most every suggestion for storing slides.
.
.
- MicroscopeSlideBoxes.jpg (107.99 KiB) Viewed 2046 times
Re: Slide Storage
Do yourself a favor and listen to Pete. I've seen slides ruined by storing them in a vertical orientation. Store 'em like books, as shown in the photo, and they'll take up less shelf space and prevent disasters!
The majority of my slides are diatom strews and arrangements, and I'm in the habit of storing them cover slip-down, so if any settling occurs it's towards the cover slip and not away from it.
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/
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Greg Howald
- Posts: 1186
- Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:44 am
Re: Slide Storage
Unfortunately many manufacturers just don't understand slide storage. You can purchase wooden or metal slide storage cabinets which are intentionally designed to hold or store the slides in the wrong orientation rather than correctly as described above, and they must be really proud of them based upon the prices.
Re: Slide Storage
Pathology always stores their slides vertically, slide to slide without spacing. And they store them that way for years, even decades. They produce way too many slides to do it any other way. Then again, they're tissue, blood and body fluid slides that seem to have little tendency to slide. No diatoms or anything prone to movement. Everyone uses newer synthetic mountant too, not Canada Balsam.
I store mine either like flat with the boxes shelved like books as PeteM suggested, or flat in Eberbach or antique trays. I've seen too many nice diatom arrangement ruined by movement through soft mountant.
I store mine either like flat with the boxes shelved like books as PeteM suggested, or flat in Eberbach or antique trays. I've seen too many nice diatom arrangement ruined by movement through soft mountant.
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neal Shields
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2022 8:02 pm
Re: Slide Storage
You guys have convinced me.
I will have to go the thrift store and find some book ends to put next to my main microscope.
However, ALL of the very old slides that I have, that have deteriorated, have deteriorated from the edges to the center with no cover glass movement. I would attribute that to the mounting media oxidation.
In any case you can't be too careful. Your posts have also reminded me of the slide storage boxes I see with diatom collections from England. They have the slides lay flat.
However, I still suspect that the company in question has decided that trusting their younger generation employees to follow procedures and not poison themselves while they are still in their child bearing years, is probably not a good idea.
From the Cytoseal MSDS
Toluene 55%
Acrylic Resin Antioxidant 45%
Manufacturers usually don't add anything to the BOM unless they have to. Something caused them to add that notice.
Neal
I will have to go the thrift store and find some book ends to put next to my main microscope.
However, ALL of the very old slides that I have, that have deteriorated, have deteriorated from the edges to the center with no cover glass movement. I would attribute that to the mounting media oxidation.
In any case you can't be too careful. Your posts have also reminded me of the slide storage boxes I see with diatom collections from England. They have the slides lay flat.
However, I still suspect that the company in question has decided that trusting their younger generation employees to follow procedures and not poison themselves while they are still in their child bearing years, is probably not a good idea.
From the Cytoseal MSDS
Toluene 55%
Acrylic Resin Antioxidant 45%
Manufacturers usually don't add anything to the BOM unless they have to. Something caused them to add that notice.
Neal