Dick,

This is I think a quite common problem. The students in my lab normally
embed in Spurr's firm (both animal and plant tissue) and they initially
use glass knife and after they feel comfortable with glass knife, I let
them use a diamond knife to do their final sectioning. We also use MT2 and
MT2B ultramicrotomes. Anyway, you might think about posting your message
to the microscopy listserve too.

Good luck,

Soumitra


*************************************************************
Soumitra Ghoshroy Ph.D.
Electron Microscopy Lab and Fluorescence Imaging Facility
Department of Biology
Box 3EML
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Tel: 505-646-3600
Fax: 505-646-5665
e-mail:[log in to unmask]
http://confocal.nmsu.edu/eml

On Fri, 20 Apr 2001, Dick Briggs wrote:

> I teach an undergraduate-level course in electron microscopy, and
> every year I find that the biggest hurdle for my students, not
> surprisingly, is the cutting of thin sections with glass knives.
> This is of course the point at which the students begin to get very
> discouraged with their research projects.   I have tried various
> embedding media based on viscosity/penetration demands (Spurr's or
> ultra-low viscosity for plant tissue, for example), but I have been
> unable to come up with a medium that gives students a greater chance
> at success in cutting sections with glass knives.   Does anyone have
> a favorite embedding medium that would allow fairly routine
> sectioning of diverse biological samples with glass knives.  We are
> using primarily MT-2 microtomes.
>
> I thank you in advance.
>
> Dick Briggs
> Biology Department
> Smith College