Hello felow MO crystallographer, For all it's worth, a while ago I've compiled a little document which describes mounting needles. I've converted it into PDF and posted it here:
"Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone" Jorge Luis Borges -----Original Message----- From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:ccp...@jiscmail.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Tanner, John J. Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 5:52 PM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [ccp4bb] Mounting needle-shaped crystals Dear CCP4, I'm looking for advice on mounting thin needles for low temperature data collection. Our needles are fairly long (100-200 microns) but only 20 microns or less thick. When I pick them up with Hampton loops (0.05-0.1 mm size), the crystals tend to break as they are moved out of the drop and through the liquid-air interface. I see that Mitegen sells MicroLoops E, which are advertised as working well for mounting needles. Can anyone recommend them? Can anyone recommend Mitegen MicroMeshes or another tool for mounting needles? Thanks, Jack Tanner -- John J. Tanner Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of Missouri-Columbia 125 Chemistry Building Columbia, MO 65211 Phone: 573-884-1280 Fax: 573-882-2754 Email: tanne...@missouri.edu http://www.chem.missouri.edu/TannerGroup/tanner.html