Editing Microtome (section)

===Rotary ===
[[File:Microtome-1.jpg|thumb|A rotary microtome of older construction]]

This instrument is a common microtome design. This device operates with a staged rotary action such that the actual cutting is part of the rotary motion. In a rotary microtome, the knife is typically fixed in a vertical position.<ref name="MVM">Klaus Henkel: ''[http://www.mikroskopie-muenchen.de/cut-mikrotom.html Das Schneiden mit dem Mikrotom] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110100611/http://www.mikroskopie-muenchen.de/cut-mikrotom.html |date=10 November 2009 }}.'' Mikrobiologische Vereinigung München e.&nbsp;V., 2006, accessed 15 February 2009</ref>

[[File:Microtome principle.svg|thumb|left|Principle of sample movement for making a cut on a rotary microtome]]
In the figure to the left, the principle of the cut is explained. Through the motion of the sample holder, the sample is cut by the knife position 1 to position 2, at which point the fresh section remains on the knife. At the highest point of the rotary motion, the sample holder is advanced by the same thickness as the section that is to be made, allowing the next section to be made.

The flywheel in many microtomes can be operated by hand. This has the advantage that a clean cut can be made, as the relatively large mass of the flywheel prevents the sample from being stopped during the sample cut. The flywheel in newer models is often integrated inside the microtome casing. The typical cut thickness for a rotary microtome is between 1 and 60&nbsp;μm. For hard materials, such as a sample embedded in a synthetic resin, this design of microtome can allow good "semi-thin" sections with a thickness of as low as 0.5&nbsp;μm.