NetNotes
applied something akin to clear nail polish; except that I’d like to use something similar for covering a tape label. Whatever your method, would it be too much to ask that it also hold up to acetone? Michael Shaffer
michael@shaffer.net Wed Apr 27 If you have access to a hospital histology lab, ask the histotechs
what they use (or borrow one to test). My histotech uses a Statmark Pen from StatLab Medical Products. Tey are moderately expensive and need to be capped to ensure they don’t dry out, but they work. I should also mention that we have a printer that we purchased
that prints directly onto the painted end of a microscope slide. It is completely solvent resistant. Te one we have is particular about the brand of slide we use, but my understanding is that when Termo-Fisher bought the product line from the original designers, T-F re-worked it so that it was not so fussy. Tis works well for the 15,000+ histology slides that my University service lab does per year. We chose this product (Accuplace PSLIM) because it was the least expensive direct slide labeling device available at the time and our tests of solvent-resistant stick-on labels leſt us unimpressed. I have no commercial interest in this product. Doug Cromey dcromey@email.
arizona.edu Wed Apr 27 Tanks to those who have responded, but I should’ve also
mentioned that I don’t want anyone here relying on interpreting someone else’s script. Students come and they go, and I cannot read half of them, so it does need to be a labeling system. We have a Brother P-Touch labeler, but I wouldn’t have considered the adhesive to survive many ethanol ultrasonic baths. However, I can put it to the test. Also because it would be labeling thousands of polished acrylic blocks, I can also consider a different labeler, because I want to archive these sections and hope they last. Michael Shaffer michael@
shaffer.net Wed Apr 27
Instrumentation: cleaning bell jar One nice thing about having interested students is that they do
not hesitate to ask questions that I have never thought much about. Te latest one came up while demonstrating the coaters in the lab. A student asked what to use to clean them and how oſten. I answered that I usually use a little water, maybe some detergent or a special solution that makes it easier to clean with water. How oſten was less clear, I have seen labs where bell jars etc are cleaned aſter each use and labs where it doesn’t look like the glass has ever been cleaned. What is your advice and experience? Jonathan Krupp jkrupp@deltacollege. edu Wed Apr 6 I use Bon Ami and clean when it looks like it needs it. Nice and
precise, yes? If I know I’m going to need a Wonderful Perfect Must Be High Resolution coat, I’ll clean at least the day before and pump awhile to make sure any residual water vapor is gone. Philip Oshel
oshel1pe@cmich.edu Wed Apr 6 Bon Ami, eh? Have you had any problems with this in terms of
getting carbon films to float off mica? I recall years ago trying various things to make bell jars easier to clean. Some really worked, but I oſten had problems getting films to float off aſter using them, even with long periods of time elapsed between cleaning and film preparation. Since then I’ve only used a tiny bit of levigated alumina, spread onto a coarse paper towel moistened with a bit of ethanol. But it takes a lot of scrubbing to get the bell jar and bottom of the evaporator clean. If Bon Ami does the job, and still lets films float off, I’d be “high vacuum happy.” Jim Ehrman
jehrman@mta.ca Wed Apr 6 For sputter coater with rotary pump (which I use for
magnifications not higher than 100k) I coat bell jar with a layer of soap. When jar is clean, I put some liquid soap (without moisturizer) on a wet piece of paper towel and wipe a jar. Ten wipe it with a dry
60
paper towel. For a few months (3–12) aſterwards, I can easily remove a layer of metal just wiping it out with a piece of the dry paper towel; easy, fast and can be done in a few seconds. Vladimir M. Dusevich
dusevichv@umkc.edu Wed Apr 6 For high vacuum evaporators: A dirty bell jar slows down
pumping and potentially could contaminate specimens if you are doing high resolution work. We shield our electrodes as much as possible, so non-essential coating does not end up on the entire bell jar. Tat way, we only have to clean the small area surrounding the electrodes. We clean the entire bell jar maybe 4 times a year. We do coat the inside of the jar with Bell Bright, a detergent, which makes cleaning a simple task. You could fashion shields from something like aluminum foil—just be very careful not to contact any of the electrical feeds—and then discard the foil. For sputter coaters: We clean the glass containment vessel aſter each use. It’s quick and easy, compared to the high-vac system. John J. Bozzola
bozzola@siu.edu Wed Apr 6
Instrumentation: humorous operator errors I am a relatively new user and only operator of our Hitachi-7100
TEM. I went to use the instrument for the first time in a month and was not able to find the beam. I have bright illumination but no focused beam. I have backed out the apertures and specimen holder to adjust the Gun alignment to get the brightest illumination at the largest spot size. Tere looks to be somewhat of a beam at the top of the screen but I am unable to get it to the centre without losing it all together. Tracy Lawrence
tracy.lawrence@
inspection.gc.ca Tu Apr 28 Tank you all for your suggestions. I hesitate to tell you what
the problem was but I guess it's a learning experience . . . the shutter was closed. Tracy Lawrence
Tracy.Lawrence@
inspection.gc.ca Tu Apr 28 OK, show of hands; how many of you have done this, even
briefly? Tracy, we all have stories like yours! Welcome to the club. Tina (Weatherby) Carvalho
tina@pbrc.hawaii.edu Tu Apr 28 I should tell you what it was, so you can smile as well: I was in
Vienna last year to do some tests. And you should know that I am not actively involved with an institute, out of practice somewhat (in my defense, weak . . . but still). Had only worked with the Morgagni once or twice, trying to do all well along the instructions I had received. So . . . switched on HT, started up the filament . . . nothing. Checked if I had made a mistake . . . no, didn’t seem like that, HT was on, we had a filament current as well as a beam current, but the TEM chamber was dark as. I thought: I’ll be b . . . d if I have to ask for help, aſter all those years being an electron microscopist. . . . And of course there is also that feeling of looking silly. Aſter 10 minutes of trying, I gave up and was about to get help. Ten I turned the room lights on . . . and there was the reason for not getting any beam: the cover was still on the glass pane of the viewing chamber! I sat there laughing for a few minutes and felt so silly. Decided to tell the friendly crew in Vienna anyway, but they still tease me with it, it was so funny. Jan Leunissen
leunissen@aurion.nl Tu Apr 28 I may have everyone beat, so my hand is definitely up. When
doing cryo-EM on a Tecnai 12 with the specimen mounted in a Gatan 626 cryostage, one closes the gun valve to load the specimen, which has a cryoshield in place to prevent ice contamination of the grid. Aſter the specimen is in place and the temperature has stabilized, the gun valve is opened, the cryoshield is retracted, and the specimen can be observed. At one time or another I have had the experience of not seeing the beam due to forgetting each of the three items: opening the valve, retracting the shield, and, of course, failing to remove the cover. Bill Tivol
william.f.tivol@aero.org Tu Apr 28
www.microscopy-today.com • 2011 July
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