Marilyn,

Infiltrating at 64 degrees is a little high.  It may be causing your
tissues to harden and actually be cooking them.  Which would account for
the muddy appearance and the waves from hardness.

Remedy:

Make sure all screws are tight on your microtome.  Chatter is also caused
by the knife holder beind loose or angle being off.

 Lower the temp of the paraffin baths to melting point or the paraffin
being used or a couple degrees above.  I used to keep mine at 59 degrees C.

Rough cut and soak hard to cut blocks in icy water or a neat trick is to
plop them in your waterbath for a couple of seconds ( no more than that or
else blocks will start to melt) and back on ice.  The warm water will
soften them.  Or EM Science makes a softening agent called Mollifex that
works quicker at softeneing.  If you need info on it contact me directly.

Rande Kline HT (ASCP)
Technical Services
EM Science




Marilyn Woods <mwoods@execpc.com> on 12/14/98 05:40:58 PM

To:   Histonet <histonet@Pathology.swmed.edu>
cc:
Subject:  Wavy sections




Looking for suggestions on the cause of wavy sections, so bad that we are
unable to focus under high power.  This has happen out of the blue without
changing any procedures.  I am cutting all skin, some look good,  but this
problem seems to affect the staining ex. muddy appearing, poor contrast and
understaining.  All temps. are with norm. except of a paraffin bath on
processor is 64 C. Sections have been good 2 days a week then progressively
get worse.

Thank you