Dear Jaclynn,

	I was taught to cut ultathins (on an LKB II) & flatten them with a heat
pen.  The pen I used then was mains powered through a small transformer.  I
think later models had a switch so that they come on only when you want the
heat.

	I checked with my suppliers web site & they suggest your battery powered
pen can be linked to a battery eliminator (a transformer plugged into the
mains?).  http://www.proscitech.com.au/index.htm

	Heat pens are very effective on Spurrs resin.  I used to section my epon
ultrathin sections onto 20% ethanol which flattened them out very nicely
without need of anything else.  I didn't get the same result with Spurr's
although I didn't try very hard as I perfer not to use it.

	Hope this helps.

	Regards
	
	Rob W.

At 01:15 PM 7/7/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Does anyone have any opinions on using a heat pen to flatten ultrathin EM
>sections?  I would very much prefer to get away from using chloroform.
>Electron Microscopy Sciences has two models:  Wax Pen 1 (which uses 1 AA
>battery) and Wax Pen 2 (which uses 2 AA batteries).  Their tech
>representative recommended the Wax Pen 2 for flattening sections.  Is this
>consistent with the preference of the majority?
>I need to decide to place an order soon (the end of the fiscal year is
>approaching).
>Thank you,
>Jaclynn Lett, Research Assistant     jmlett@cid.wustl.edu
>Fay and Carl Simon Center for the Biology of Hearing and Deafness
>Central Institute for the Deaf
>818 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
>voice  314-977-0257     fax  314-977-0030



R. Wadley, B.App.Sc, M.L.S
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