Final Design

Component of the buffer tray stage that the brain specimen is placed on and rotates throughout the experiment

Needed to be fairly thin to keep the brain within the cutting range of the vibratome blade

Sits on the pins so it could be quickly moved from angle to angle, rather than trying to very precisely insert each pin

Combination of manual and CNC milling was used for the final stage design

Based on the original buffer tray

Has a shaft collar-like attachment used to slot into the vibratome

Elongated screw with a handle that extends out to the side of the box from the width of the buffer tray attachment that the operator can use the handle to tighten and secure the buffer tray to the vibratome

Used to hold the rotating stage at the desired angle during sectioning

Serve to keep the ACSF solution from leaking out of the tray through the pin slots

Designed specially to be able to sit within the side walls when not in use to both block the solution and prevent their separation from the stage

Each pin has a small rubber o-ring on its handle, directly before the external face of the side walls, which keeps it from falling into the stage tray and helps the operator know exactly how far to push it in to prop up the stage platform

Engravings at the side of each pin to know which angle is being set, depending on which one is pushed in

Prop the rotating stage up at the correct angles up to 45o, increments of 5o

Keep the ACSF solution that the brain is submerged in, inside the box

Designed to be structurally sound, easy to use, and safe to work with

Fabricated on a manual milling machine, but utilized programming techniques on these machines for the pin slots

Engraved angle labels were machined on the Haas MiniMill