Source for Replica plator pls.

[pgegen at rnaworld.bio.ukans.edu]

In <DGLuK8.8pz at ncifcrf.gov>, pnh at kaylor.ncifcrf.gov (Paul N Hengen) writes:
>Dr.Sailesh Surapureddi (SaiSu at MCB.LiU.SE) wrote:
>
>: Hello Every one,
>: I am in need for a replica plator which is used to make colony 
>: impressions from one plate to another.
>: Could anyone out there who has one and knows the source, kindly 
>: relay the information please.
>
>Build one yourself. Go to a plastics shop and ask them to cut you two circular
>pieces of 0.5-1.0 inch thick disks of the correct diameter, leaving enough
>space in a petri dish for a piece of velvet. Also have them lathe a cylinder of
>plastic long enough to hold so your hand fits comfortably between the two dics
>when they are glued on the ends. Voila! You're in business.  You can even make
>one from wood if you like.  Use autoclaved velvet cloth squares by draping them
>over the disc and hold the ends so the cloth doesn't move and do your replica
>plating with the other hand. If you've got money to throw away, FMC used to
>sell one-time disposable sponges mounted inside a plastic petri dish for this
>kind of replica plating...uhhhh, but don't waste your money.
>
>*******************************************************************************
>* Paul N. Hengen, Ph.D.                           /--------------------------/*
>* National Cancer Institute                       |Internet: pnh at ncifcrf.gov |*
>* Laboratory of Mathematical Biology              |   Phone: (301) 846-5581  |*
>* Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center|     FAX: (301) 846-5598  |*
>* Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201 USA              /--------------------------/*
>* - - - - - Methods FAQ list -> http://www-lmmb.ncifcrf.gov/~pnh/ - - - - - - *
>* - - -  Anonymous FTP from ftp.ncifcrf.gov as file pub/methods/FAQlist - - - *
>*******************************************************************************

One important point left unmentioned by the above anwer is that the classic replica plater adds a circular metal band which slips over the round block and hold the velvet (or velveteen) in place. The apparatus I treasured from an earlier "life" had a solid metal disc, diameter just less than a Petri dish & height about 1 cm. It was supported by a metal rod which was fastened into a base (wooden, as I recall). The velveteen cloth was help onto the metal disc with a metal band that had been stretched around 
the edge of the disc and then the ends were soldered or welded together. (Sort of like a rubber band but solid metal. Sort of like a rubber band but solid metal.) The joint is filed down to the thickness of the band so the Petri plate will fit snugly.  It takes a good shop to make the band!  
When I saw the ads for S&S dispo replicators I almost gagged. [CAUTION: Flame ahead!} <+flame>Truth is, most "molecular" "biologists"  never care to check the phenotype (auxotrophies, resistance markers, etc., of the bacteria they work with, so they don't do replica plating. Ah, the ~good~ old days!] <-flame>

o---------------------------------------------------------------------------o
|  Dr. Peter Gegenheimer         | voice: 913-864-3939    FAX:913-864-5321  |
|  Departments of Biochemistry   | pgegen at kuhub.cc.ukans.edu                |
|    and of Botany               | URL: gopher://rnaworld.bio.ukans.edu:70  |
|                                |                                          |
| University of Kansas           | "When you have excluded the impossible,  |
| 2045 Haworth Hall              |  whatever remains, however improbable,   |
| Lawrence  KS  66045-2106       |  must be the truth."    Sherlock Holmes  |
o________________________________|__________________________________________o