Bright Instruments
16
4. Cutting And Collecting
Sections
4.1 TRIMMING
Refer to Figures 10 & 11.
a. Disengage the pawl (17) by pushing the
lever to the left.
b. Turn the ratchet wheel (14) anticlockwise;
the carrier moves back away from the blade.
c. Place the specimen on its object holder
(34) in the carrier (head) (12) and tighten the
clamp screw (20).
d. Bring the specimen down by means of the
actuating handle/hand wheel (30) and turn
the ratchet wheel (14) clockwise until the
specimen reaches the blade.
e. Re-engage the pawl (17) by pushing the
lever to the right.
f. Set the micron indexing dial (28) to 12µm.
g. Move the handle down and up, (or the hand
wheel round), until satisfactory sections are
cut.
h. Clean the blade surface using the bristle
brush with an upward motion.
4.2 SECTION CUTTING
a. Set the micron indexing dial (28) to the
desired thickness.
IMPORTANT:
Always push the operating
lever/hand wheel down slightly before
changing thickness setting.
b. Swing the anti-roll plate into position.
c. Actuate the operating lever / hand wheel;
a slow stroke generally gives good results.
Experiment to find the most suitable speed.
Figure 12.
d. After cutting an acceptable section, lock
the specimen at the bottom by using the hand
wheel lock, or by pushing the lever back.
e. Swing the anti-roll plate carefully aside.
f. Take a glass slide from the ambient
temperature of the laboratory and bring it up
gently to the section. The section should move
on to the slide.
NOTE:
Foreign matter – fragments of
previous sections – ice or a film of grease
on the blade or anti-roll plate – will cause
sufficient friction to prevent sections from
slipping down the blade surface freely.
The blade should be kept clean by means
of the bristle brush. The bristle brush
should frequently be cleaned in acetone or
chloroform and occasionally well-washed in
detergent. A coating of ice on the back of
the blade will damage the exposed surface
of the tissue block.
NOTE:
When the instrument is fitted with
4-24µm feed range (2212-019) then the
scale is doubled. ie: Setting of 8µm, Actual
thickness is 16µm.
Render
