Jason,
It does sound as if the ratchet and paul (sp?) are not functioning 
properly. Perhaps the teeth on the ratchet wheel are worn or the 
spring tension for the paul needs be tightened. I would not be very 
confident in knowing the thickness of your sections at that rate. 

If however for the time being (ie until you have it repaired), you are 
not doing morphometric or sterologic studies; getting a thin section 
(albeit, of unkown thickness) may suffice, as long as it has 
consistent thickness in-of-itself. (I know that sentence is way too 
long, but it has been a long week!) So what I mean is, as long as it 
is thin enough for the pathologist to read the necessary stains- 
he/she will tell you if the sections are inadequate. 

I must also say though, I haven't worked in a human diagnostic 
setting, so if that is your situation, quality assurance rules and regs. 
may necessitate getting it fixed before proceeding any further. DO 
NOT allow my "two cents worth" to be the cause of false 
diagnoses!!
Have a good weekend.
Greg

Date sent:      	Fri, 30 May 2003 11:45:27 -0700
From:           	jason madore 
Subject:        	cryostat functioning?
To:             	HISTONET@pathology.swmed.edu

> Recently got an old leica 1800 cryostat up and running in our lab. After 
> blowing the dust off and cooling it down I started sectioning some frozen 
> tissues. I would have to crank the handle around between 5-10 times before 
> it would cut the block between sections. Does this seem normal? How 
> confident can I be that the thickness is what I had set it to? If anyone has 
> ever had this problem before I would be gratefull for some advice as I am 
> somewhat of a novice at this and there is no histotech in out lab.
> thanks.
> jason.
> 
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greg Dobbin
Pathology Lab
Atlantic Veterinary College, U.P.E.I.
550 University Ave.
Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Canada,  C1A 4P3
Phone: (902)566-0744
Fax: (902)566-0851
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A farmer is a person outstanding in their field."