C 5.0
Dissection instruments and laboratory supplies
Scalpels, scissors, probes, forceps, pins and trays, and the assembled student and instructor sets built from them. This is the manufacturing and assembly side of the business, under NAICS 339112.
A dissection set is judged on two pieces: the scissors and the scalpel handle. Everything else in the case is a probe, a needle or a pair of forceps, and those are hard to get wrong. Scissors that do not meet along the blade will crush tissue instead of cutting it, and a scalpel handle that flexes makes a shallow controlled cut impossible.
That is the whole difference between the student set and the instructor set. Both hold the same kinds of instrument; the instructor set has heavier scissors that stay aligned, a knurled stainless handle that does not turn in a wet hand, and a hinged case rather than a vinyl roll. For a demonstrating teacher who will use it every week for years, that is worth paying for. For thirty students twice a year, the student set is the correct choice.
Blades are consumable and should be treated as such. A blunt blade is the most common cause of a cut in a school dissection lab, because a student who cannot cut presses harder. Order blades by the hundred and change them.
Name these on the order
- Set or individual
- An assembled set is cheaper than the sum of its instruments, because it is packed once.
- Grade
- Student or instructor. The difference is the scissors and the handle, not the piece count.
- Blade fitting
- Blade number must match the handle number. No. 22 blades fit a no. 4 handle; no. 10 and no. 11 blades fit a no. 3.
- Tray size
- Against the specimen, not against the bench. An 8″ × 12″ wax tray takes a frog or a rat; a fetal pig or a cat wants larger.
- Pack size
- Instruments individually or by the dozen; blades, pins and gloves by the hundred.
All of them appear on your written quotation before a purchase order is raised. See ordering.
C 5.1 Prices
Published prices
Catalogue figures for this group, reviewed September 2026. The whole catalogue is priced on one page if you would rather compare groups — see prices.
| Item | Supplied as | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Student dissecting setScalpel, scissors, forceps, two probes, needle, vinyl case | Set of 7 | $14.90 |
| Instructor dissecting setStainless, heavier scissors, knurled handles, hinged case | Set of 11 | $42.00 |
| Scalpel handle, no. 4Stainless, reusable | Each | $4.60 |
| Scalpel blades, no. 22Carbon steel, sterile | Pack of 100 | $18.50 |
| Dissecting scissors4½″, sharp/blunt | Each | $6.20 |
| Forceps, fine point4½″, stainless | Each | $3.80 |
| Dissecting tray, wax-filled8″ × 12″, black wax | Each | $16.40 |
| T-pins1½″, stainless | Pack of 100 | $7.90 |
| Nitrile glovesPowder-free, sizes S–XL | Box of 100 | $13.60 |
| Prepared slide set, animal tissue25 slides, labelled, wooden box | Set | $68.00 |
| Specimen storage bagsZip, holding-fluid safe | Pack of 50 | $11.20 |
Catalogue prices are USD per unit at the pack size stated, exclude shipping, handling, hazardous-materials surcharges and any applicable tax, and are catalogue ranges for planning a requisition rather than an offer or a quotation. Reviewed September 2026. A figure for your order is confirmed on a written quotation. See the disclaimer.
Questions Dissection instruments and laboratory supplies
Questions about this group
Specific to dissection instruments and laboratory supplies. The general questions — ordering, purchase orders, substitutions, returns — are on the FAQ page.
How many sets does a class need?
One per pair of students, matching the specimen count, plus two spares. Sets live in the prep room and are reissued each session, so the count is set by the largest class rather than by the total roll. Buy blades separately and generously.
Student set or instructor set?
Student sets for students. The instructor set is worth it for the one or two people who demonstrate with it every week and will keep it for years — heavier scissors that stay aligned, a handle that does not turn in a wet hand, and a case that survives a prep room. Buying instructor sets for a whole class is spending money where it does not change the lesson.
Which blade fits which handle?
Blade and handle numbers have to match. A no. 22 blade fits a no. 4 handle; no. 10 and no. 11 blades fit a no. 3 handle. If you are reordering blades for handles you already own, check the number stamped on the handle and tell us that number rather than the blade you think you had.
Do you sharpen or replace scissors?
Dissecting scissors are not economically resharpened; when they stop meeting along the blade they are replaced. If a set has lost or blunted one piece, that piece is sold individually rather than requiring a whole new set — every instrument in both sets is on the table above on its own line for that reason.
Catalogue The other groups
The rest of the catalogue
Frogs, fetal pigs, cats, rats, mink, perch, sharks and the rest of the dissection sequence, at the injection grade the lesson actually needs.
Earthworms, crayfish, grasshoppers, squid, starfish, clams and the survey sets that carry a whole phylum sequence in one order.
Algae, protozoa, bacteria, fungi, plants and live invertebrates, shipped on a calendar set by the organism rather than by the warehouse.
Sterilised barn owl pellets in first and second quality, which are different products for different lessons and are priced separately.
Telephone with the lesson, not the catalogue number
Tell us what the lesson has to show, how many students are working in pairs and which week it is scheduled for. We will name the species, grade, size, fluid and pack that fit and put it on a written quotation.
Niles Biological, Inc. · 9298 Elder Creek Rd, Sacramento, CA 95829