In article <74rp80$421 at net.bio.net>, S L Forsburg
<nospamforsburg at salk.edu> writes
>>Carolyn J. Decker (cdecker at mail.wsu.edu)
>>> I am looking for advise on tetrad dissection tools. I have made several
>> dissection tools for my Nikon dissection scope using a glass rod and a
>> piece of fiber optic cable that I cut with a razor blade or scalpel. The
>> tools pick up tetrads well but do not release them efficiently. The tips
>> of the fiber optic cable are not perfectly flat so I may be losing
>> tetrads/spores in crevices in the tip.
>>>> Are dissection tools commercially available?
>>>> Does anyone have advice on how to make tools with flat tips?
>>We also use a Nikon tetrad scope. We purchased from Carl Singer a
>needle holder that mounts on the existing mechanical linkage,
>and several boxes of precut needles. I accidentally broke the
> first needle I mounted, which I did not realize for a bit, because
>even broken, *it still worked better* than hand-cut.
>Also, the needles last a good long time. Definitely
>worth the investment for us! In fact one of the students
>now claims doing tetrads is like playing a video game....
>>I have no official connection with Singer Instruments, just
>a satisfied user.
>>Thanks for your kind words - Susan. If only I could get you to buy one
of my dissecting workststions for your students (with CCTV)- Paradise
!!!!
As an aside, when I first started looking into making needles from glass
rod I asked everyone who used that method which glass they preferred.
The inevitable answer was "the stuff in the tube by the fridge" - it had
always been in the lab and nobody ever knew where it came from or what
the 'spec was.
Season's Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone.
Carl
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