Wafer stages are awesome for cruising around large objects like, say, wafers, but are nearly useless for anything else unless you fill that giant rectangular hole with a universal plate onto which you can bolt any number of cool attachments.
In my case, I was desperate for a rotating stage. Not only are these things ridiculously expensive, but finding something that would simply bolt on to the existing stage arm of my "wafer scope" was extremely unlikely. No way I was spending $500+ just to see if it would fit my bolt spacing. Ergo, an adapter plate!
There are a several online prototyping places which will machine one-off parts relatively inexpensively, but they require that you upload an actual CAD file. Having only Paleozoic drafting skills, I taught myself how to use Autodesk Fusion 360 (free) and designed an all-purpose plate that would accept my antique rotating stage, and have useful, future-proof features like a large central opening and a standard metric optical breadboard.
Fusion 360 allows you to export an actual machine readable file that a manufacturer can upload into a CAM milling machine. I sent Xometry my file and was quoted a price of $120 total. You can add colored anodizing, laser etched designs and lettering, cool surface textures and easily triple the cost of a basic product. $120, though, was totally worth it. After two weeks, I got my plate:
...a couple of screws and standoffs from Home Depot....
Holy Cow.... it all fits!
What's the breadboard for? Generally they're used for holding an assortment of optical tools, but I expect to use it for:
1- Holding a mini motor to turn my plate at the press of a button
2- Arranging and holding an array of specialized LEDs for illumination
3- Leveling large uneven objects
Next up....cutting a thick glass plate to fit the wafer stage.
Wafer Stage Adapter
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- Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm
Re: Wafer Stage Adapter
Congrats! That's a great design and it looks like it came together perfectly.
Re: Wafer Stage Adapter
Excellent design and execution!