Soak the faced block in room temp. water for few minutes. This will speed the intake of water. I can usually cut it at room temp if I am careful. If your paraffin is soft then you will need to soak it in room temp water first and then put ice on it and cut it. Pick up the ribbon and place on room temp dist water. While you are picking up and stretching the sections, put piece of cotton soaked in water on the face of the block as it is attached to the microtome. This way it will be soaking in place and you won't be loosing nice sections while adjusting the angle for the next ribbon. By the time you pick up all good sections, the block will be ready to be cut again. If you have good size liver, you can soak it for much longer - 5-10 min, before you start sectioning. This way the water will penetrate dipper and you will be able to easily get a very long ribbon.
Good luck Michelle Aloni BS HTL Research specialist USC Keck School of Medicine, LA CA _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
