John,

>From your description, this cryostat would appear to have been the
redoubtable IEC, probably model CT.
I had two of these machines that performed impeccably for more than 25
years!
The microtome was a stainless steel Minot style direct drive, with detached
index post for setting thickness. The major disadvantage of this instrument
was that one had to operate the coarse trimming function by reaching over
the knife to access the rear advance wheel!! This often provided a challenge
in a heavily frosted small cabinet, lots of nicks and cuts!!
We donated one of these to a researcher, as far as I know it's still in use.
I still have the handbook for this instrument.

Regards

Bryan



> ----------
> From: 	J. A. Kiernan[SMTP:jkiernan@julian.uwo.ca]
> Sent: 	October 5, 1999 11:52 PM
> To: 	TODD LUA
> Cc: 	'Histonet'
> Subject: 	Re: PM on Microtome. PM = ?!
> 
> On Tue, 5 Oct 1999, TODD LUA wrote:
> 
> > Is there a company out there that does preventative maintenance on
> microtomes?  
> > Thanks
> 
>   Your title line was an eye-catcher because PM means post mortem
>   (or necropsy) to many of us. I've seen 3 dead microtomes. One
>   was neglected for 20 years, with every moving part locked solid,
>   and no money for professional help. The 2nd was thrown out to
>   free up a square foot of bench space (fortunately it was just a
>   1950s AO/Spencer, of little more value than the mol biol type
>   who needed somewhere to rest an elbow). The 3rd was a namelesss
>   stainless steel machine mounted at 45deg in a cryostat cabinet
>   that looked like the ice-cream fridge in a little shop that
>   I can remember from the 1940s. This cryotome did sterling service
>   from the late 1970s (when I rescued it from the junk yard) until
>   about 1993 when something went horribly wrong with the threading
>   on the stout rod that advanced the chuck. Again, neither money
>   nor expertise was available, so it was scrapped. 
> 
>   Can anyone identify this anonymous cryostat from my description?   
>   If you can, and you have one, it might be worth keeping it for
>   the Antiques Road Show, 1?   5? or even 10? years in the future.
> 
> > 
> 
>