LEITZ Ortholux XY-Stage Maintenance Manual

Leitz Ortholux XY-Stage Maintenance Notes
The "black era" Leitz Ortholux microscopes were manufactured from approx. 1937 to 1974. Although all
Ortholux microscopes (except the later Ortholux II) look similar from the outside, Leitz' ongoing product
development/improvement efforts led to several design differences through the years.
Scope
These maintenance notes describe the disassembly, cleaning, greasing and reassembly of the XY-stage
of a 1947 Ortholux microscope, i.e., a rather early-stage model before coaxial stage controls were
introduced.
XY-Stage Introduction
The older XY-stage model (manufactured until approx. 1950) described in these maintenance notes has
separate controls for X and Y axis movements (Figure 1 and Figure 2.) The stage has linear ball bearings
for the Y axis movement (forward-and-backward) and a quite long slide for the X axis movements (side-
ways). Ball bearings have much less friction resistance than slides, so to equalize the feelings of the X
and Y axis stage movements one should consider making the ball bearing more sluggish while facilitating
the slide movements as much as possible. This can be accomplished 1) by selecting a medium to high
viscosity grease for the ball bearings and a very low viscosity grease for the slide, and 2) by using a high
viscosity grease for the Y axis pinion axle and a medium viscosity grease for the X axis pinion axle.
Figure 1: Microscope base with the stage.
Leitz Ortholux XY-Stage, ver. 01, 27-May-2024 Page 1 of 8