TROUBLESHOOTING: Loose Knife Clamp Arm

Rolling the cryostat over bumpy cobblestone or tactile pavement can loosen the pins that hold the knife clamp arms. The microtome will probably look something like this:

Assuming everything was working just fine at the last job, all the parts should be rolling around somewhere at the bottom. Put the knife clamp arm back where it belongs. 

Now find the pin and insert it into the hole.

Use your heat sink to tap the pin all the way in. 

All fixed! 

The next time you need to go over bumpy pavement, ROLL THE CRYO SLOWLY. 

Regular Cryo Maintenance: Alcohol and WD40

"Take care of your cryo and she'll take care of you." -RH

At the start of each job:
Once you've worked the microtome loose with alcohol, use a syringe to squirt WD40 in/on all of the following locations:

At the end of each job:
Spray everything with alcohol and wipe all surfaces, especially the nooks and crannies that tend to collect shavings of tissue and OCT.