replacement parts for Zeiss

GaryB · Post by **GaryB** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:48 am

The stage on mt Zeiss 14 was a bit lumpy in action and I just found out the rack and pinion for fore/aft movement is not looking too well, all the teeth in the center are stripped courtesy of plastic

Is there any place likely to have any parts like this, mostly the rack, or will I need to buy another stage? I know it's highly unlikely these parts are available separately but thought I'd ask just in case.

Ichthyophthirius · Post by **Ichthyophthirius** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:57 pm

Hi Gary,

Commiserations!

I realised recently I have the same model of stage with EXACTLY the same damage. Both rack and pinion are stripped. This is likely due to a transport or accidental damage, when the stage for forced past a blocked pinion.

I'm in the process of exchanging the stage. For a repair - I don't know. Maybe you could determine the module of the teeth (it is likely to be some kind of DIN size) and replace both rack and pinion with brass parts.

That would require quite a bit of DIY. This documentation is for the repair of the X-axis. http://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/index.php?topic=10350.0 To fix the Y-axis, you'd have to follow steps 1-5, and then 11-17. Then modify the pinion by glueing a new gear over the worn-out plastic and replacing the rack with a new one (same module).

A lot of work! Maybe someone has a quicker solution?

Regards, Ichty

Smokedaddy · Post by **Smokedaddy** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 4:51 pm

Just a thought, I contacted Dave Rygmyr at NorthWest Short Line about a gear for my Nikon MM-11 months ago which is difficult to come by. He offered to make a hobbed stick (about 7" long) that you cut for your own gears as needed. They have a TON of gears on their site including metric. Mine happened to be an odd ball (if I recall 0.3 mod 18T).

http://shop.osorail.com/main.sc

They also have a Facebook page with lot's of interesting little gears he makes. He asked if he could post a pic of my MM-11 gear for his Facebook timeline. That's what the screen capture is below.

-JW:

GaryB · Post by **GaryB** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:01 pm

Thanks for the replies

Well, I just took the rack off and tried to measured it's tooth pitch.. oh dear..
It's not stock metric and it's not imperial as far as I can tell. The closest it comes to a pitch is 1/16" tooth to tooth, but even that doesn't carry across the whole length. So they used some wacky tooth pitch that's I don't know what, so no easy diy method either.

I guess when you're making your own stuff it can be whatever suits what you want it to be for your needs.

Smokedaddy · Post by **Smokedaddy** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:36 pm

If it were me, I'd take a nice close up pic of the gear (front view showing all the teeth) and contact Dave and see what he has to say. You have nothing to loose.

-JW:

Ichthyophthirius · Post by **Ichthyophthirius** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 3:05 am

Hi Gary,

As you have to replace both rack and pinion, the old module doesn't really matter. You can just choose another. Maybe one that comes close to the original so the general design is maintained.

Kind regards,

Ichty

Choronzon · Post by **Choronzon** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:36 am

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zeiss-Standard- ... SwdGFYpcJw

Do yourself a favor and just buy this, unless you enjoy paying yourself three cents an hour to remanufacture a rack and pinion.