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Microscope Slides Cut from Sheet, Coverslips from a Blown Bubble
A microscope slide is a strip of plain glass about 75 × 25 mm and 1 mm thick with smoothed edges; a coverslip is a much thinner square that presses the specimen flat. Cut the slides from thin sheet and grind the edges; for coverslips, blow a thin bubble on a glass tube and cut flat pieces from it.
The picture: a tray of early 20th-century prepared slides under coverslips, museum of the Institut Pasteur de Lille.
Intermediate
An afternoon
Instructions
1
1
Cut the slides
Cut the slides
Mark thin glass sheet in 25 mm strips, score and snap them, then score and snap each strip at 75 mm.
Materials for this step:
Glass Sheet1 pieceTools needed:
Glass Cutter
Ruler
Safety Glasses2
2
Grind the edges
Grind the edges
Rub every edge and corner on a flat glass plate with wet fine grit until smooth to the touch. Wash and dry.
Materials for this step:
Silicon Carbide Grit20 g
Water1 literTools needed:
Digital Caliper 6-Inch3
3
Blow a thin bubble
Blow a thin bubble
Close the end of a glass tube in the torch, heat it evenly and blow a large, very thin bubble, turning it as you blow (our method).
Materials for this step:
Glass Tubing Kit1 pieceTools needed:
Bench Glassblowing TorchSafety Glasses
Heat-Resistant Gloves4
4
Cut coverslips
Cut coverslips
When cold, break the bubble and pick the flattest pieces from its sides. Trim them to small squares with the cutter and check the thickness with the caliper; keep only even, thin pieces.
Tools needed:
Glass CutterDigital Caliper 6-InchSafety Glasses5
5
Store clean
Store clean
Wash slides and coverslips and keep them apart in a closed jar so they stay free of dust and grease.
Materials for this step:
Water1 literTools needed:
Glass Jar6
6
Slides from a sheet
Slides from a sheet
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7
7
Limits
Limits
Slide size and edge finish are as Wikipedia gives them; the blown-bubble coverslips are our method. Blown coverslips vary in thickness: measure them, since the wrong thickness blurs high-power images.
Materials
4- 1 piecePlaceholder
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- 2 litersPlaceholder
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