[Histonet] Manual embedding

[Collette, Nicole M.]

Hi, All,

I just saw this question and the responses, thought I would add my own
solution to the mix. I do manual embedding, I use a hyb oven for my
infiltrating/embedding station (like for hybridizing Southern or Northern
blots- who does that anymore?). I have taken out the rotating wheel for
spinning bottles, and line the tray at the bottom with foil. Temp control
works very well. I have several Wheaton staining boxes (the kind that come
with glass inserts for staining 20 slides) that I use for my wax changes for
infiltrating, and a couple of metal beakers I use for pouring into molds. I
have a little real estate left inside the oven (it's probably around 18"x
18" square area) to heat my molds for pouring, and I have a metal heat block
in there that you would use for Eppendorf tubes as my forceps warmer. It
works pretty well, but does take a long time to heat up those boxes of wax,
so I need to plan ahead by about 3 hours. When I pour the molds, I have the
oven in front of a drawer under the bench, I line an extra cabinet shelf
with foil and lay it over the open drawer to give me some bench space, pour
my molds inside the oven and transfer it to the foil-lined shelf to cool so
I can move it without the specimen shifting. Then I transfer to a photo tray
and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours before releasing the molds.
With the door of the hyb oven open I have to embed in shifts and let the
molds heat up again, but it works OK. At least it's all contained in one
unit. It's hard to do histology in a molecular lab ;)

Hope this helps to give a do-it-your-selfer some ideas.

Sincerely,
Nicole Collette
LLNL



On 8/2/11 7:53 PM, "Scott Parker" <sparker <@t> vt.edu> wrote:

> Dear Histonetters:
> 
> I am interested in acquiring a pitcher and heating jacket for melting and
> pouring paraffin during manual embedding. My work is relatively low volume
> and in a university research lab setting so I am trying to avoid purchasing
> an expensive embedding station. Can anyone recommend an honest supplier of
> used histology equipment that might be able to provide me with this item?
> 
> Thank you for your expertise!
> 
> Scott L. Parker
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