This is another Newport ultra-precision compact linear stage I
recently acquired. Unfortunately, as it always happens when you get a
second-hand mechanical or optical equipment, it was in a poor working
condition and cannot be used without prior repair. First, the moving
platform was loosen and the handle did not affect its movement at
all. Second, the handle was scratching the stage body if turned, thus
increasing the load on the motor and producing unpleasant noise.
I decided to fix the handle first. There were two ways for doing
this - either by displicing the motor or by shifting the handle. The
motor was already in the farest position, so it cannot be moved
further toward the handle. Therefore, I had to move the handle. I cut
a piece of sticky aluminium tape and attached it to the shaft on which
the handle was put. That helped to put it away from the stage body.
The next step was to figure out what happened to the moving
part. First, I disassembled the stage. Then, by looking at the worm
shaft, I noticed that the part to which the moving platform was
screwed, went off the special nut. As a result, nothing was holding
the stage in the position.
Fixing that was not an easy task, because of the construction of
that connector. To attach the nut to the stage holder it had to be
unscrewed first. Then the holder pushed onto it and the nut with two
springs and washer asssembled together. After that the holder was
pushed further until the end.
Finally, the fixing block was screwed to the holder at the angle
which provided minimal backlash of the movement and at the same time
being not too tight for easy move. Assembled and tested stage shown
very good performance and smooth travel.
Sergei Skorobogatov
<Sergei.Skorobogatov (at) cl.cam.ac.uk>
<Sergei.Skorobogatov (at) hushmail.com>
created 20-10-2004 -- last modified 06-11-2004 -- http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~sps32/