Proxxon rail revisited

NikonUser · Post by **NikonUser** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:34 pm

My 1st horizontal set-up was based on a Proxxon rail. However, I soon replaced it with a Nikon focus block.
1 revolution of the control dial on the Proxxon advances the stage 1.0 mm, whereas on my model of the Nikon block 1 revolution advances the stage 0.1 mm. With the large 6" control dial (see top image) I can move the Proxxon stage in increments of 10µ which is plenty fine enough for up to 10x.
One excellent feature of the Proxxon is the ability to move the stage right-left as well as front-back.
I have always anchored my camera and moved the subject. Today I 'dug out' the Proxxon and used it to move the camera; and because of the ability to make fine adjustments to the right-left axis is was a simpler system than having to move the subject which was at the far end of the optical bench.

Despite looks, the system is stable. Proxon movement was smooth with apparently perfect alignment in that ZS-stacked images showed nice clean edges.

Top view: set-up
Bottom: a couple of test subjects (Polistes sp.) Top @ 0.5mm frames, bottom @ 0.25mm frames, head width 3.68mm

NU11140

NU11141

elf · Post by **elf** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:59 pm

It looks like you need one of these

Have you tried shooting panoramas at 10x with it?

NikonUser · Post by **NikonUser** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 7:08 am

I'm confused.
By "shooting panoramas" do you mean rotating the axis between camera and specimen? I have no way to accurately rotate the specimen but I could move the camera right-left to get different angles but don't know how I would process the resulting stack.

The disc detail is nice but what I really need is one divided into 10, 5, and 1 divisions.
Easy to divide a circle into 2, 4, 8, 16 divisions but not so easy, by hand, to make one based on divisions of 10.

EDIT: Thanks to the kindness and skill of a PMG.net member I now have a 6" disc with divisions based on 10

elf · Post by **elf** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:04 am

I thought perhaps 16 divisions worked out well for your favorite magnification

You should be able to do three image panos successfully by shifting left and right.

NikonUser · Post by **NikonUser** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:01 am

Wow, that's really nice - thanks elf.

I will make a disc to fit on my Nikon focus block, the one that is geared for 1µ increments.

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:19 am

I don't understand how to use that vernier scale.
Its markings are outwith my ken, as Betty's Rab would say.
I expected its 10th tick to line up with the 9th or 11th, or 20th to line up with 19th etc etc

By pm Ed tells me this is the "larger" style.

I don't see it!

Perhaps working/posting as a .png or a .gif would avoid the compression spots?

NikonUser · Post by **NikonUser** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:55 am

Here is the elf disc attached to a Nikon focus block.
Disc is 6" diameter and gives easier control than Nikon's 2" diam knob.

This setup is at the opposite end of the optical bench; move this block with specimen for >10x , move the camera on the other end (previous image)
for <10x.

NU11142

elf · Post by **elf** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:45 am

ChrisR wrote:I don't understand how to use that vernier scale.
Its markings are outwith my ken, as Betty's Rab would say.
I expected its 10th tick to line up with the 9th or 11th, or 20th to line up with 19th etc etc

By pm Ed tells me this is the "larger" style.

I don't see it!

Perhaps working/posting as a .png or a .gif would avoid the compression spots?

I stopped reading the instructions for creating a vernier scale too soon and missed the part where the direct vernier needs to span 9 marks on the dial and for a retrograde vernier it needs to span 11 marks.

Here's the corrected version:

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:36 am

Now there's posh, and spotless too!