[Histonet] Cryostat knives vs disposable blades

[Davoli, Katherine A]

Hi Histonettles!

I've got a bunch of projects coming up that require slicing frozen mouse brains.  Per my training, this should happen on knives rather than disposable steel blades ... we have the knives but they're in desperate need of sharpening, and it looks like not many places still do that service.  Here's my questions:


  1.  CAN I use blades (Feather) instead of knives?  What will I be compromising to do it that way?

  2.  If you use knives, what is a ballpark range of costs for sharpening them?

  3.  If you use knives, who do you use to sharpen them?  Sturkey is who I used to use, but they don't offer this service anymore and have been referring people to a group in Atlanta instead.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Katherine Davoli, MDiv, HTL(ASCP)cm    (they/them/theirs)
Lab Manager, Tissue Culture & Histology Cores, U. Pitt Dept of Ophthalmology
7.373 UPMC Mercy Pavilion        1622 Locust St., Pittsburgh PA 15219
(412) 624-8508   this number cannot receive texts