Cambridge Rocker for Botanical sections
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 9:25 pm
I have recently taken an interest in microtomy and have acquired a Cambridge rocking microtome together with some nice books on making botanical sections.
Thanks to a couple of friends and some cheap “fleabay” purchases I have acquired all the items I need to start to learn how to use the microtome.
Currently I am working on making a wax oven from a donated mini-oven.
The oven only works with a 60 minute timer and the first thing I have to do is to bypass the timer so that it can remain on for longer.
The next thing is to build a housing for a PID temperature controller and incorporate the electrics to run the oven.
Once that is complete then I will experiment making wax blocks and learn to section them. Once I have got the hang of this I will move on to working with specimens.
I hope to detail my learning journey, what went right and what went wrong here. I have had an opportunity to read posts from other contributors on this topic and hopefully I will receive constructive feedback for the community here.
Thanks to a couple of friends and some cheap “fleabay” purchases I have acquired all the items I need to start to learn how to use the microtome.
Currently I am working on making a wax oven from a donated mini-oven.
The oven only works with a 60 minute timer and the first thing I have to do is to bypass the timer so that it can remain on for longer.
The next thing is to build a housing for a PID temperature controller and incorporate the electrics to run the oven.
Once that is complete then I will experiment making wax blocks and learn to section them. Once I have got the hang of this I will move on to working with specimens.
I hope to detail my learning journey, what went right and what went wrong here. I have had an opportunity to read posts from other contributors on this topic and hopefully I will receive constructive feedback for the community here.