No! No!  Patsy.  Ralph knives were originally made by Ralph without a Ralph
knife maker!  Even worse, Ralph didn't even make the Ralph Knife Maker (It
would have been called "Ralph's Knife Maker"), no money for the use of his
name either.  Ralph made his knives by scoring a 6mm thick long strip of
ultramicrotomy glass, then he rested the glass strip on a wooden stirring
stick so that the score lay slightly to the left or right, but parallel to
the stick.  Then he pressed with a Ralph amount of force to get the strip to
break (he wasn't wearing his glasses, and his mother said he would put his
eyes out!).  The result was a short strip with a cutting edge that extended
the full width of the strip.  Ralph mounted the glass knife on a length of
steel with some adhesive, I used hot glue, and cut 2um sections on his
rotary microtome from GMA blocks.

Ralph's real claim to fame is that no one remembers whether "Ralph" is the
first or last name, but he is better known than Student who is more famous
than the totally anonymous fabricator (also a student!) of FITC from F.

If I read this, I won't be able to send it.

Fred

Frederick C. Monson, PhD   
Center for Advanced Scientific Imaging
Schmucker II Science Center
West Chester University
South Church Street 
West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, 19383
Phone:  610-738-0437
FAX:  610-738-0437
fmonson@wcupa.edu
CASI URL:  http://darwin/wcupa.edu/casi/
WCUPA URL:  http://www.wcupa.edu/
Visitors URL:  http://www.wcupa.edu/_visitors/

> ----------
> From: 	rueggp
> Sent: 	Thursday, April 11, 2002 11:23 AM
> To: 	Margaret Gondo
> Cc: 	HistoNet Server
> Subject: 	Re: Sorvall 45700 Glass Knife Maker
> 
> NO
> The Sorvall knife maker makes the cut on the thickness of the glass, you
> would need a Ralph Knife maker to cut Ralph Knives.
> Patsy
> 
> Margaret Gondo wrote:
> 
> > Hi All -
> >
> > I have unearthed a Sorvall 45700 Glass Knife Maker.  I can't seem to
> > locate any other information on this.  I'm just curious if anyone out in
> > Histoland knows if the instrument will make a Ralph Knife.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Margaret
> 
> 
>