Dear Gayle,

	I used AO's at the Uni of Tasmania & occassionally still find them
hard at
work in small/old labs.  The Anatomy Dept at the Uni of Sydney still wheels
them out (& Spencers too) for students.

	But in a lab where I worked about 2 years ago they had a beautiful
black
Spencer-880.  The Spencer cut rings around the (newer) AO-820 that sat
beside it on the bench.  As I re-equipped the lab both of the microtomes
were replaced with (2nd hand) Leica 1512s.  The Spencer now has a home in
my shed as part of a collection of early microtomes, microscopes & other
histological sundries (they take up less room than vintage Buicks).

	Of course the old microtomes had plenty of crosses against them.
They are
heavy to shift & often stiff (in comparison to modern machines) to operate.
 Modern safety devices were missing too (& motors!).  I don't always like
the modern microtomes with their light weight (ir)replacable innards, but
my arm does not ache as much when I have to do some sectioning.

	 Regards

	Rob W.

At 16:55 12/07/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>My last inquiry about an AO 820 repair ended up with IMEB used equipment
>dealer, who had these instruments (a bunch, if I recall) sitting in a back
>room.  I don't think parts are made anymore, a repair can be done,
>not cheap!and a considerable down payment on a new microtome!) and I think
>parts may be scavenged off the older machines in some cases.  I don't think
>Leica even bothers with them anymore.      This was about
>to happen with my one good 820 and an old 820 no longer usable on my shelf,
>I opted for a new microtome.  Was difficult to give up the old workhorse,
>but I had to put it out to pasture for a new thoroughbred!
>Gayle Callis


R. Wadley, B.App.Sc. M.L.S, Grad.Dip.Sc.MM
Laboratory Manager
Cellular Analysis Facility
School of Microbiology & Immunology
UNSW, New South Wales, Australia, 2052
Ph (BH) 	+61 (2) 9385 3517
Ph (AH)	+61 (2) 9555 1239
Fax 	+61 (2) 9385 1591
E-mail	r.wadley@unsw.edu.au
www	http://www.micro.unsw.edu.au/caf.html