[Histonet] freezing microtome

[Olek Michalski]

Dear Histonetters,

I've just found a freezing microtome in our laboratory. It's Microm HM  
440E w/ K400 fast freezing unit. I'd like to get it running but can't find  
a piece of manual. Our technical lady claims that the freezing unit  
haven't ever been used. I don't like to break it by improper operation, so  
could anybody tell me how to do the test run and what to check before?
Another issue: I've noticed that there is a large metal clamp inside the  
knife holder with a screw connector. I suppose it is for cooling the knife  
and I should connect the clamp to the cooling stage. The problem is I have  
no idea how the connector look like and I have to find it in the large box  
full of parts. If I eventually find it, will it work efficiently? I'd like  
to cut large pieces of brain about 15mm thick into 40um sections frozen to  
-30 C deg. Do anybody have such experience?

Best regards
Olek Michalski
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