Thanks very much for the information. The carrot method sounds wonderfully simple but I am sure that the elderberry pith is not available here. But still, perhaps there are other piths which are - so that's also useful. The nut & bolt microtome sounds brilliant and I would love to receive more details. The inventor shall be duly acknowledged! It is also good to be reminded of what the world of Botany has to offer. Could you perhaps recommend suppliers of teaching aids such as microscope preparations of plant fibres?
Jennifer Barnett historical textiles research & consultation Oude Looiersstraat 65-67 1016 VH Amsterdam Netherlands tel/fax ** 31 (0)20 427 18 27 reginatextilia@xxxxxxxx
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Jennifer Barnett wrote:
I am looking for inexpensive equipment for making cross sections, in
What sort of things are you sectioning? Have you ever done freehand sections?
If the material can be freehand sectioned, it's pretty easy to support it with elderberry pith or carrot so you can get nicely thin slices.
Also, a friend, a plant anatomist, developed a pretty good hand microtome for biological specimens, made mostly of a large nut and bolt with fine threads. If this is useful, I'll see if I can get him to write it up.
Kay Lancaster kay@xxxxxxxx (stray botanist)