Thread: Left Hand Microtome

I had a DUH moment today after I bought a microtome. Actually a Microscopic section cutter according to the tang!

I for some reason had never thought of these as being left or right handed and until I looked closer to it at home. I did a quick search and the pictures I found were of right hand ones.

It has much wear and a ding in the edge but if I can get it sharp I may have to look for a right handed one to make a shaving set!



This is a good example of why I like different things [at least to me]. I have gotten way more than my moneys worth already.

I have a Wade and Butcher microtome and was thoroughly confused by it. I thought it was a poorly ground wedge.

Then I saw this thread:
https://straightrazorpalace.com/adva...microtome.html

Originally Posted by DZEC

I have a Wade and Butcher microtome and was thoroughly confused by it. I thought it was a poorly ground wedge.

Then I saw this thread:
https://straightrazorpalace.com/adva...microtome.html

The grind on the one there is the same as mine. Like a left handed knife.

How would that have been used? Would one cut the specimen with the non-hollow ground side down? if so, then a right hand person would use that one pulling toward themselves. Now if one was to shave with it would you use it like a Kami?(Hollow side toward face).

Here’s a couple of pics of mine.

Originally Posted by tintin

How would that have been used? Would one cut the specimen with the non-hollow ground side down? if so, then a right hand person would use that one pulling toward themselves. Now if one was to shave with it would you use it like a Kami?(Hollow side toward face).

I am thinking like a kitchen knife and if you were cutting a carrot for a righty the carrot and straight side would be on the left and on the right for a lefty.

Sometimes it is just easier to section from the left and you need a left handed microtome for that.
And then, believe it or not, there are left handed biologists out there.

The only actual microtomography I have seen was done by a machine, so I would not know how to use that.

Found this picture.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/intern...s/20740450531/

The machines were/are helpful for doing sectioning studies where you want to look at a bunch of layers from a sample, but the hand held microtome was/is used when you really only need to do one or two sections of a sample. Essentially, the hand held microtome is the quick way to see if a sample has a disease and the machine can slice it up to tell you the extent of the disease.