Glass Knives verses Diamond Knives

Weiss Knives

A Method for Evaluating Glass Knives

In microtomy, faults of the cutting edge are an obvious and avoidable source of artifact. The purpose of this communication is to describe a simple apparatus for viewing and marking the cutting edge of the glass knives which are used in see-tioning for electron microscopy (1, 2). The apparatus consists of a monocular microscope with base, arm, body tube, coarse and fine adjustments, an annular ...

A Note on Breaking Glass Knives

In cutting thin sections of dense tissue such as bone, much depends on the integrity of the glass knife edge. The method of breaking the glass by first scoring it into strips has certain limitations. These strips have irregular edges be-T]~xT-Fm. 1. Plan of piece of plate glass. cause they break along the strain lines introduced by the glass cutter and it follows that the cutting edge of the kn...

A Diamond Knife Holder for Microtomes Designed to Take Glass Knives

Diamond knives for cutting thin sections for electron microscopy were first introduced by Ferngndez-Mor~n (1) and have been perfected subsequently by him (2). Such knives, as distributed, are embedded by means of a special alloy in a rectangular metal mounting which usually measures 11 x 4.5 x 1.5 mm. (2). A holder for the metal mounting, complete with collecting trough, has been described (2),...

Knives of High Silica Content Glass for Thin-Sectioning

The use of glass knives in cutting sections for electron microscopy has been a standard procedure for several years. During this period various modifications in methods of scoring and breaking knives have been recommended, as well as types of glass which can be used (1, 2). Knives of high silica content glass were first suggested by Eaves and Flewett (1953) who reported that such knives retaine...