Proxxon rail revisited

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NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Proxxon rail revisited

Post by NikonUser »

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
Image
NU11140
Image
NU11141
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

elf
Posts: 1416
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:10 pm

Post by elf »

It looks like you need one of these :)
Image

Have you tried shooting panoramas at 10x with it?

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

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
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

elf
Posts: 1416
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:10 pm

Post by elf »

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

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


Image

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

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.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

ChrisR
Site Admin
Posts: 8668
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:58 am
Location: Near London, UK

Post by ChrisR »

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!
Image
:smt102

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

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

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.
Image
NU11142
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

elf
Posts: 1416
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:10 pm

Post by elf »

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!

:smt102

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. :oops:

Here's the corrected version:
Image

ChrisR
Site Admin
Posts: 8668
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:58 am
Location: Near London, UK

Post by ChrisR »

Now there's posh, and spotless too!

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