XY-table for Zeiss standard inverted metallurgical

[erikwetterskog]

Dear forum,

After some inactivity I am back with some more questions. In my previous thread, I was trying to find a way use an old Zeiss metallurgical stand for a classroom demo. Got some great input from the forum people! (viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7372)



Well, now with proper light source and some low-grade polarizing filters I was able to take some decent images with the microscope. But the stage movement drives me nuts. The stage itself is just a plate that sits on a rail, which I have to push around with my hand. I'm not sure how these metallurgical researchers used this scope, but it is surely not very practical without a proper X-Y table. I was wondering if I can buy or adapt a standard X-Y table for this microscope, to make it more useable.

The stand without the rail and plate looks like this:



I was hoping I could get a proper Zeiss X-Y table to fit, for instance I found this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202804055548

But looking at the screws on the backside, it looks like it would not fit (judging from the finish, I guess this is more recent?). Could I make it work anyway? I am not really looking for something that is "right", just something that works, so that I can move the stage with precision. We are also on a bit of a budget, so the cheapest solution that would work OK, I'm fine with. I'm also fine with modifying or machining the parts, or the scope itself to make it work.

[wporter]

Well, they were pretty practical for what the scopes were mainly used for: scanning metallic surfaces. The rails and grooves were usually juiced up with a suitable grease so that the friction and stiction were not a big issue.

The Invertoscope was also made with an x-y stage for trans-illumination. I don't know if one of those stages would work, but the rest of the scope is similar, so they might have the same stage-mounting provisions.

invertoscope.jpg (70.56 KiB) Viewed 2470 times

[PeteM]

It would be pretty easy to graft on an x-y mechanical stage. Cheap Chinese ones show up on Ebay for around $10 and you'd likely find a better, likely used, Japanese one for under $20.

Here's a new listing from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/OMAX-Attachable- ... 74&sr=8-15

You'd basically put on plate on top of what you have, maybe 1/8 - 1/4" thick with a hole in the middle. Not too thick to end up beyond the focus range. Could be a round of plastic, aluminum, whatever. Then attach the x-y mechanical slide holder. Only tools required would likely be a drill press, drills, a hole saw, and a threading tap.