My first attempt worked surprisingly well (pictures here), but wasn't well suited for flat or long objects. Like the original it had a V-shaped furrow to guide the objects, which works best for cylinders.
Therefore, I made V2.0 with interchangeable object holders, both v-shaped and flat. The idea worked well (pictures here), only the build quality wasn't too good and it fell apart after first use.
So, now I am to v3.0, which is sturdy built and has interchangeable object holders:
- the microtome, V3.0
- OPN microtoom 3.jpg (81.7 KiB) Viewed 1437 times
I made two object holders, which slide into snug slots:
- objectholders slding into the microtome
- slides.jpg (65.46 KiB) Viewed 1437 times
The cutting tables have a variety of slots. They can be turned over to locate the desired slot in fron of the object holder:
- cutting tables
- extruders.jpg (81.19 KiB) Viewed 1437 times
making it
The microtome is made from 3mm acrylate. For thicker or thinner material the design has to be changed. Acrylate is easily cut by laser and can be used to cut slices under water.
The four holes in the horizontal bottom plates have a function only during the assemblage stage: bolts (4mm) through the holes both align and press the parts together when they are glued.
As shown above, the (transparent) cutting table might fall forward. That is because to strips of strong material should be glued to the front to prevent this. Acrylate is not suitable for this, for it is to thick and would interfere with the knife while cutting. You can use anything that that you have laying around and looks OK for the purpose. I cut out two strips of approximately 10x5mm from a discarded razor blade. It remains to be seen that they won't rust; otherwise I will have to replace them for aluminium or tough plastic.
I will post the cutting plans to Thingiverse soon.