Instruction manual

Section 6
Gel Casting
6.1 Assembling the Glass Plate Sandwiches
To insure proper alignment, make sure all plates and spacers are clean and dry before
assembly. Use caution when assembling the glass plate sandwiches. Wear gloves and
eye protection.
1. Assemble the gel sandwich on a clean surface. Lay the long rectangular plate down first,
then place the left and right spacers of equal thickness along the short edges of the rect-
angular plate. For casting perpendicular gradient gels, place the spacers so that the holes
on the spacers are at the top of the plates with the grooved side of the spacer facing the
glass plate and the notched ends facing inwards. For parallel and constant gradient gels,
place the spacers so that the holes in the spacers are at the top of the plate, facing inward
and the grooved side of the spacer facing upward or against the short glass plate.
2. Place a short glass on top of the spacers so that it is flush with one end of the long plate.
3. Locate both the right and left sandwich clamps and loosen the single screw of each clamp
by turning counterclockwise. Place each clamp by the appropriate side of the glass plate
stack with the locating arrows facing up and toward the glass plates (Figure 6.1).
Fig. 6.1. Positioning glass plates, spacers, and clamps.
4. Grasp the whole glass plate sandwich firmly. Guide the left and right clamps onto the
sandwich so that the long and short plates fit the appropriate notches in the clamp. Tighten
the screws enough to hold the plates in place (Figure 6.2).
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