Selecting the correct microtome blade

Created by Karen Darley, Modified on Thu, 23 May 2019 at 05:23 PM by Karen Darley

When aiming for excellent sections and great blade durability, it is important to match blades to the job.


At high performance levels, blades are good for fairly specific tasks:

  • 'Select' for 2µm sections of soft tissue, but with little durability
  • Feather R35 is similar to our 'Select' or 'Silver' blades
  • 'Silver' for 2‐4 µm sections and improved durability
  • 'Extremus' for 4µm and thicker sections, excellent durability
  • 'Diamond' is for hard materials, even small bones
  • 'Gold' is particularly useful for cryo sections

Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select atleast one of the reasons

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article