[Histonet] RE:Blade Rationing

[Smith, Allen]

I run an academic lab on a very tight budget.  A paper towel used to dry washed hands is used again.  Outdated dye solutions are adsorbed onto a small pile of old paper towels to save on waste disposal costs.  (A quarter-pound of solid waste costs less to dispose of than 2 liters of aqueous liquid waste.)  Disposable pipettes are washed and reused until the numbers wear off.  I make up Vector's ImmPact SG 1.7 ml a time, store it in the fridge, and use it all week.  I don't save on microtome blades.    Dull blades leave holes in 4 micron  sections.  Sections cut with a dull blade have the annoying habit of exploding on  the water bath.  Dull blades tease out collagen fibers and drape them over the cells I'm trying to study.  When a blade is dull it goes into the sharps box.
-Allen A. Smith, Ph.D.
  Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine
Miami Shores, FL