Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

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Greg Howald
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Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#1 Post by Greg Howald » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:43 pm

So you reach the point where you have a couple of thousand prepared microscope slides and you see a slide cabinet with 6 drawers that holds 2500 slides and you think your storage problems are over. DUMB!
Such cabinets have no dividers. Slides are stacked in the vertical position. They rub against each other and may cause scratching. But that's nothing compared to the fact that the slides invariably wind up on an angle and put pressure on one another. Even manufactured prepared slides are seldom ever fully cured. The slides even at a slight angle put pressure on each other in the area of the cover glass and eventually leak fluid. What a sticky mess! And slides can be destroyed. Best to use storage methods such as slide boxes where slides do not touch each other and allow a little air circulation.
Greg

Tom Jones
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#2 Post by Tom Jones » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:00 pm

Those are designed for long-term storage of pathology slides, and for that they work very well. They're very compact for the number of slides they contain.
Sliding stops or even foam blocks, are used to keep the slides vertical. Small cards can delineate time, or specimen number ranges. Modern mountants harden quickly and completely enough leakage isn't an issue in these settings. Damage is very rare. And once a slide goes in at the end of its review, about the only time it will ever come out again is for a request for a second opinion, or comparison with a new specimen from a subsequent surgery.

This is just one of those places where professional equipment isn't particularly suitable for amateur use.

Greg Howald
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#3 Post by Greg Howald » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:31 pm

You hit a key note. Not for amateurs.
Greg

Charles
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#4 Post by Charles » Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:38 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:43 pm
So you reach the point where you have a couple of thousand prepared microscope slides and you see a slide cabinet with 6 drawers that holds 2500 slides and you think your storage problems are over. DUMB!
Such cabinets have no dividers. Slides are stacked in the vertical position. They rub against each other and may cause scratching. But that's nothing compared to the fact that the slides invariably wind up on an angle and put pressure on one another. Even manufactured prepared slides are seldom ever fully cured. The slides even at a slight angle put pressure on each other in the area of the cover glass and eventually leak fluid. What a sticky mess! And slides can be destroyed. Best to use storage methods such as slide boxes where slides do not touch each other and allow a little air circulation.
Greg
I don't understand your description of these slide storage cabinets. All the ones I have seen, isolate each slide in its own slot without touching each other. Can you point to the slide storage cabinet you are referring to?

I think slide should be stored flat and not vertically, to keep specimens from shifting in it's mount. Of course they also should not be stacked directly on top of each other either. I believe most Museums also store their slides flat horizontally in drawers. If you do have those slide storage holders which store the slides vertically, you can stand the holders on end, like books, to keep the slides horizontal.

Greg Howald
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#5 Post by Greg Howald » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:42 pm

An example would be to Google Quincy slide storage cabinet.
Greg

Charles
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#6 Post by Charles » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:03 pm

Yes, and I saw other brands like Fisher and Global Scientific with the same. I don't understand why anyone would store slides in such a manner except for maybe blank slides.

Greg Howald
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#7 Post by Greg Howald » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:50 pm

I just pointed it out because I saw it on Amazon and it looks cool to some folks but is not for use by the hobbyist. Prepared slides you purchase from Celetron, National Geographic, Swift, Amscope and many others are not fully cured and will leak under pressure.
Greg

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KurtM
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Re: Slide storage drawer cabinets. BAD IDEA!

#8 Post by KurtM » Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:25 am

Every once in a while I like to post on this subject...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9967
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/

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