This is description of this part:
Complete manipulator of the mechanical XY stage for Carl Zeiss Axiolab microscopes and similar models.
This is a complete control assembly for the mechanical microscope stage, allowing precise movement of the specimen in both the X and Y axes of the stage surface. The manipulator consists of two coaxial knobs and two coaxial drive shafts - an outer one and an inner one, ending in separate pinions of different diameters.
This particular manipulator was removed from the Zeiss 453510 microscope stage (the number is also written as: 45 35 10). The last photo in the gallery shows the whole stage it comes from.
On the second-hand market and in service documentation one encounters many names referring to this assembly. The most commonly used terms include, among others:
- stage manipulator
- XY stage manipulator
- mechanical stage drive
- stage control knobs
- specimen mover
- coaxial stage drive
- stage drive assembly
- mechanical stage control
- manual XY stage drive
- stage actuator mechanism
Such manipulators are very often damaged mechanically while the microscope is being transported. Because they stick out beyond the outline of the stand, they are the first to take the energy of the impact when the instrument falls or is packed badly.
In many cases it is not the whole manipulator that gets damaged, but only one of its parts. Most often these are the knobs, the drive shafts, the coaxial sleeves or the fixing elements. That is why this database also holds all the most important components of this (and other) manipulators, offered separately as service parts.
Damage to the manipulator does not make further work with the microscope impossible. The specimen can be moved by hand, or a simple specimen holder without the XY movement can be fitted. Such a solution works at low magnifications, but when working with objectives above 40x (for example 60x, 63x, 80x or 100x) precise movement of the specimen by hand becomes very difficult. At total magnifications above roughly 400x even a small movement of the hand shifts the image by a considerable distance in the field of view. The mechanical manipulator allows very smooth, controlled and repeatable movement of the specimen in both axes, which matters especially during observation with oil immersion and when making photographic documentation.
The stage this manipulator comes from was mounted in a Zeiss Axiolab re microscope, P/N 45 09 05 (also written as 450905). However, the same stage model is also mounted on the following variants:
- Zeiss Axiolab drb KT, which carries the same number 45 09 05 (450905)
- Zeiss Axiolab E re, 45 09 07 (450907)
- Zeiss Axiolab A, 45 09 09 (450909)
- Zeiss Axiolab Pol, 45 09 10 (450910)
This item is not a spare part for repairing a microscope. It is a component of the microscope stage - and the stage can be used with any compatible Zeiss microscope, and even with others, onto whose stage carrier such a stage can be fitted or screwed on.
Detailed photos of this manipulator are available in the gallery. Every photo shows a scale with a millimetre division. The last photo shows the whole Zeiss 453510 microscope stage, with an arrow pointing at the component in question and at where it sits in the stage, so that this part can be identified without any doubt.
What is this part needed for?
- if you have an incomplete stage with this manipulator missing (for example somebody did not finish the repair)
- if you have a stage in which the manipulator does not work or is in very poor condition (it turns stiffly or unevenly)
- if you need a precise coaxial mechanism for your own DIY project, for example something related to macro photography or to rotating an object for 3D films
