Microtome

This hand held microtome is the perfect tool for making your own prepared slides. It's designed to securely hold specimens and expose them in tiny increments so that they can be thinly sliced for slide preparation. Includes a calibrated microtome with a razor knife for slicing sections.

To use your hand microtome, open it as wide as it can go by turning the round screw dial on the side. You can see the clamp open or close by looking into the big hole on the black end. Put the specimen you are wanting to view into the hole, (example a carrot), and slide it in until it hits the bottom. Screw the round dial to tighten it against the specimen to hold it secure inside the microtome. Take your razor and slice off any excess specimen by cutting against the black bottom.

Now the specimen is flush with the black surface. Turn the back knob of the microtome, which will push out the specimen inside the microtome, to your desired thickness. Take the razor blade and cut again, just like before, to get a thin cross section of your specimen. Take the thin slice and put on your slide and it is ready for viewing. Adjust the back knob to easily make thinner or thicker slices.

You will probably want to squeeze 1-2 drops of water over the specimen section to make a 'wet mount' slide, and the cover it with a slide coverslip.