Scott: Does the chuck have a clamp in it? If so soak a piece of soft wood that fits in the chuck in 100% ETOH (pulling a vacuum on it would help) and transition into paraffin. Once its soaked in paraffin pull it out and allow to solidify. Your tissue will need to be flat embedded in a simple boat. Use a razor blade to cut it out but leave a good bit of paraffin behind and around it. Once its cool use an artists pallet knife (small) to melt the surface of the paraffin on the wood and the back of the block and weld in place with the melted paraffin.
Re: the knife - they make a knife holder that holds either hi or low profile disposable blades which fits in the microtome's knife holder. One thing about the old AO - they are almost indestructible but never back up the crank because it can strip the gears. Good luck - Mike mwfol...@rgbio.cm On Tue, 2010-03-16 at 14:20 -0400, Scott Parker wrote: > Dear all, > > I have access to a Spencer AO 820 microtome (a "black beauty" in > Histo-parlance) that is does not have a disposable blade holder nor a chuck > for holding paraffin cassettes. The microtome otherwise appears to be in > good condition. I would like to get suggestions for where I might be able to > purchase a chuck and disposable blade holder for this classic model. > Alternatively, would it be a better idea for me to put this piece of > equipment on display in a glass case and instead purchase a newer microtome. > My work involves relatively low volume, basic sectioning of paraffin blocks > for teaching and research. I don't need anything too fancy, just a microtome > that is reliable and appropriate for student researchers to use. > > Thank you in advance for your responses. > > Scott > > > Scott L. Parker, Ph.D. > > Assistant Professor Biology > > Coastal Carolina University > > P.O. Box 261954 > > Conway, SC 29528-6054 > > > > Office Phone: (843)-349-2491 > _______________________________________________ > Histonet mailing list > Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu > http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet