After lurking your website for the past couple of years, I felt it was time to join the party. Greetings all. I must say I have been very impressed by the expertise, information exchange, images and cordiality shown on this website and I'll do my best to contribute what I can.
I'm Mike and live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I have been an amateur microscopist for a bit over nine years. I contribute to Micscape once or twice a year. If you want to see some of my articles, Google "Michael Reese Much." I work as a product support specialist in digital cameras and digital audio for Olympus Imaging America. We have some images by Charlie Krebs and Wim van Egmond from the Bioscapes competitions in one of our hallways here at corporate headquarters.
My interests in the micro/macro world are focus stacked insects, cross-polarized chemical crystals, and plant and animal tissues. I have an AO Spencer microtome, and one of these days I'll get the blades sharpened and learn how to parafin mount speciments, so someday I may be posting some tissue sections. For now I use purchased "teaching " slides for my biological images.
Greetings
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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Greetings
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
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Re: Greetings
Welcome to the forum Mike. I do not live too far away from you; I am in Breinigsville, PA on the other side of Allentown.Olympusman wrote:After lurking your website for the past couple of years, I felt it was time to join the party. Greetings all. I must say I have been very impressed by the expertise, information exchange, images and cordiality shown on this website and I'll do my best to contribute what I can.
I'm Mike and live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I have been an amateur microscopist for a bit over nine years. I contribute to Micscape once or twice a year. If you want to see some of my articles, Google "Michael Reese Much." I work as a product support specialist in digital cameras and digital audio for Olympus Imaging America. We have some images by Charlie Krebs and Wim van Egmond from the Bioscapes competitions in one of our hallways here at corporate headquarters.
My interests in the micro/macro world are focus stacked insects, cross-polarized chemical crystals, and plant and animal tissues. I have an AO Spencer microtome, and one of these days I'll get the blades sharpened and learn how to parafin mount speciments, so someday I may be posting some tissue sections. For now I use purchased "teaching " slides for my biological images.
Rich
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Re: Greetings
Welcome to Photomacrography forum Olympusman
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Greetings
Thanks, Contest_Guru. Since Olympus Imaging America fired myself and 32 other other their top people (including all of the camera repair people) in March as a cost-cutting measure, I've had a lot of free time so I have been participating more on this site.
Olympus cameras are now being repaired in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico by a contractor.
Olympus cameras are now being repaired in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico by a contractor.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
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Hi Mike,
Welcome. I have been making histological preparations for decades as an amateur (although I started out as a pathology tech, so I did have a professional introduction). Although I do use paraffin as an embedding medium, and various methacrylate formulations, I would reccommend that you try using polyester wax. It is more expensive, but it also doesn't require any solvent beyond isopropanol or ethanol, so your entire embedding protocol is much simpler (no clearing solvents required). Good luck, hope to see some more histo pictures on the forum.
Regards,
Dave (discomorphella)
Welcome. I have been making histological preparations for decades as an amateur (although I started out as a pathology tech, so I did have a professional introduction). Although I do use paraffin as an embedding medium, and various methacrylate formulations, I would reccommend that you try using polyester wax. It is more expensive, but it also doesn't require any solvent beyond isopropanol or ethanol, so your entire embedding protocol is much simpler (no clearing solvents required). Good luck, hope to see some more histo pictures on the forum.
Regards,
Dave (discomorphella)
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Microtome
Thanks, Dave. I'm going to try a combination of paraffin and beeswax for starters. I've done initial blade sharpening using a very fine stone and then burnishing with diamond paste on a plate of glass. Then I'm going to try my final buff with diamond paste on Dremel polishing pads which are kind of like felt.
A few years ago, a gou started a three part series on prepping specimens for microtome sectioning but he never posted Part Three, which was the stuff about mounting the sections to a slide and dissolving the paraffin. From everything I've reasd, the paraffin is dissolved out of the section using Xylol, which I have.
A few years ago, a gou started a three part series on prepping specimens for microtome sectioning but he never posted Part Three, which was the stuff about mounting the sections to a slide and dissolving the paraffin. From everything I've reasd, the paraffin is dissolved out of the section using Xylol, which I have.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
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A small horn toot
I've been informed by the RMS that one of my images has been selected for the 2014 Royal Microscopical Society Calendar -- Male Imperial Moth Antenna detail
This is the third year in a row one of my images has been featured on the RMS calendar.
This is the third year in a row one of my images has been featured on the RMS calendar.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA