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University of Wisconsin-Synchrotron Radiation Center
TECHNICAL NOTE
Subject:
Techniques, Methods, and Designs for
“Do It Yourself” Optics Fixtures
File No.
SRC-203
Page
1-42
Author(s):
Roger W. C. Hansen
Date:
June 24, 2003
Techniques, Methods, and Designs
for "Do It Yourself" Optics Fixtures
Roger W. C. Hansen
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Synchrotron Radiation Center
3731 Schneider Drive, Stoughton, WI 53589-3097
1
Introduction
It is the purpose of this document to review and describe various methods
and techniques for constructing optical xtures. Optical components can be extremely sensitive to small motions and proper performance often requires extremely
exacting alignment. This is illustrated by the numerous companies producing and
selling xtures to precisely mount and align optical components. Unfortunately for
many of us, these companies know how to charge for their products. In many laboratories, these items tend to come under the general heading of "infrastructure".
Even before it was amicably pointed out in the election campaign of 1992, it was
common knowledge among administrators that spending money on infrastructure
was undesirable. As a result, although these items are usually needed to do the
job, they are perpetually in short supply. This situation is illustrated by a recent
publication describing construction of optical xtures from Lego Blocks [1]. Having
been in a laboratory for some years where everyone wants and needs these items but
no one wants to pay for them, I have developed considerable expertise in acquiring
them from raw materials and items available through petty cash. (The previous
statement can be simplied as "No single component may cost more than $ 200 or
draw the attention of accountants reviewing a large monthly budget".) Although
there are occasional descriptions of optical xtures in the scientic literature, the
only comprehensive treatment of the subject is the brief discussion in "Building Scientic Apparatus" [2]. In this document, I plan to summarize and discuss some of
the successful designs, methods, and techniques to improvise optics xtures.
2
Standardization, Materials and Supplies
In construction of optical xtures it is best to make them as general as possible
2
so that they can be used in as many dierent congurations and setups as possible.
It is not desirable to be sending things back to the shop for modication or changes
on a routine basis. We have adapted the standard of using 1/4-20 threads on 1"
or 1/2" centers as much as possible. This is a standard adapted to some extent
by nearly all of the commercial suppliers of optics mounts. This makes xtures as
interchangeable as possible with commercial components. Generally when a xture
is designed, its surfaces are covered with as many 1/4-20 tapped holes and free t
clearance holes on a 0.500" grid as possible. This is very time consuming; however,
it results in xtures that can usually be made to t or work in some manner without
further modication.
Generally, aluminum (the most commonly stocked alloy is 6061-T6) has been
the primary material of choice. It is relatively inexpensive, and is easily machined
by the novice. In a large laboratory, with numerous construction projects going on,
it has been possible to take advantage of small sections of stock left over from larger
jobs. Numerous angles, cubes and other parts were made when a particular type of
stock was available at the conclusion of a larger project. Although this happened
occasionally, it eventually became necessary to order metal to get the materials
needed.
A number of small parts have been found to be very useful for making xtures.
Steel balls are necessary for many kinematic designs and a supply of them in several
sizes is very useful. As an example, a simple adjusting screw is made by center
drilling a hole in the end of a 1/4-20 thumb screw and gluing a 3/16 inch steel ball
into the hole. For more demanding applications, 1/4-80 adjusting screws[3] and taps
have been found to be essential for ne motion control. Half turn buttons purchased
from the hardware store are very handy for holding many small items. When tted
with a 6-32 knurled brass screw these allow quick mounting and dismounting for
pinholes, slits, photodiodes and other small optical components. Many optical tilt
stages and xtures involve extension springs of varying length to hold parts against
adjusting screws. A spring looping tool[4] was exceedingly valuable for obtaining
springs of the correct length. Instead of stocking large numbers of springs of dierent
length, several sizes of twelve inch springs were used. The desired length of these
could be cut and the end looped at any length. With some experimentation, the
correct length spring could be readily fabricated. The Porter hand spring winder
[4] is another valuable tool to have around. With it and a supply of spring wire,
specialty springs can be manufactured on the spur of the moment. It is capable of
making extension, and compression springs. It cannot make prestressed extension
springs. In an emergency situation, it can make springs that are quite serviceable.
Purchase of a procunier tapping attachment for the drill press greatly increased
the eciency of production of xtures. This attachment mounts in the drill press
chuck and taps are mounted in it. An internal clutch will drive the tap at low speed
3
Figure 1: A holder for taps, tap drills, close t drills, and free t drills.
when downward pressure is applied to the press. When the pressure is released, the
tap will stop. Upward pressure causes the tap to reverse and back out of the hole
at a faster speed. With a little practice, tapping holes is as easy as drilling them.
The tapping step is transformed by this tool from a tedious hand operation to an
automated process nearly as fast as drilling.
A set of stamps is very useful. All of the xtures manufactured are labeled
by stamping "SRC", and "OPTICS" in the metal. It has become customary for
the person actually making the part to also stamp his initials on the piece. This
encourages a certain care in workmanship among the students. Stamps are also
useful for making labels or noting important information on a xture. It is wise
to stamp critical dimensions and labels on jigs and gauges so that they can be
recognized at a later date. Stamps are relatively unforgiving of errors. On the other
hand information stamped in metal, should last for the life of the part. White and
black lacquer sticks can be used to emphasize stamped letters. They are inexpensive
and make the lettering very visible. The use of stamps is illustrated in gure 1. The
holders in the gure hold taps, tap drills, close t drills, and free t drills. The
correct sizes from the Machinery Handbook [5] are stamped into the holder next to
each hole for easy reference.
A small selection of tamper resistant screws is handy to have. Inexperienced
workers tend to take apart things they should not. A complex piece of equipment
like a 4-way laser aimer is designed to be used as a unit. Putting some of the
4
basic parts together with tamper resistant screws does not inhibit any of the critical
adjustments or function. It can also prevent wasting your time putting it back
together after it has been loaned to a physics graduate student.
Band clamps in an assortment of sizes are handy for temporary setups. They
can be cut and bent to become part of a xture like the stand sliders, or they can be
used to attach parts together as an inexpensive emergency mount. Although they
look a bit unusual, they are very strong and hold well. Short lengths of threaded
rod are very handy for quick mounting of parts and components.
A few of the needed parts are available from the stockroom; however, we
eventually developed our own stockroom of parts. This is handy to have when
xtures need repair or holders need to be improvised for an immediate need. It is
also essential to keep a list of retailers and manufacturers for parts and materials
that are required.
3
Training Program
The manufacture of several dierent types of optics xtures of varying degree
of sophistication can be combined with the training program for student hourly
workers. Because todays students are generally lacking the hands on engineering
experience [6] that was common place twenty years ago, it is vital that particular
attention is paid to training and instruction. New student hourly workers begin by
making breadboards and spacers. This involves cutting stock, squaring up pieces,
using transfer punches, drilling, counterboring, and tapping holes in aluminum.
Students usually can become procient in these basic steps within a few weeks.
With a bit of planning each new project can involve one or two new construction
techniques or methods. Ideally each task will provide a new technique or method and
reinforcement of the previous lessons. This also makes life easier for the supervisor
who can concentrate his eorts on the one or two new aspects of the project and
does not have to oversee the entire project in detail. Within three or four months a
student hourly can have progressed to the point where he can make precision mirror
mounts and other more complicated parts with minimal supervision. Examples of
components and their level of diculty are given in appendix A on page 40.
Generally, this document will proceed from the easier starting projects to the
more skilled advanced projects.
5
4
Patterns
When constructing optical xtures, it is desirable that the holes be drilled
precisely on 1.000" centers. This makes the xtures compatible with commercial
components and with each other. In some of our earlier xtures, the holes were
positioned by hand using layout techniques which are only accurate to about 1/32
inch (60 032 inches). The problem of accurate placement was addressed by making
the through holes larger than necessary to allow for some error in the hole positions.
This helped compensate for errors; however it did not always work and did not result
in xtures that worked well with commercial units. Having to search around for holes
that would work when mounting a component was less than satisfactory. The holes
can of coarse be drilled very precisely on a mill by any competent machinist; however,
if we had the money for the machinist we would have bought the components in the
rst place. The problem was eventually solved by using patterns. Basically a piece
of mild steel was placed in a mill and holes on half inch centers were precisely marked
and drilled into the steel. (Holes were marked with respect to a labeled reference
edges.) A new number 7 drill was used for each pattern. The resulting patterns
could be aligned with a piece of aluminum (reference edge of pattern to reference
edge of part), locked with C clamps, and the hole positions marked on the aluminum
with a number 7 transfer punch. Several of the many patterns are shown in gure
2. The making of the pattern required considerable mill time; however, once made,
the patterns could be used many times. This is not as accurate as placing all of
the holes with a mill; however, it proved suciently accurate to match commercial
xtures in nearly every case. Student hourly workers were able to transfer the hole
pattern to pieces of aluminum and then drill and tap the holes to give an acceptably
accurate bolt pattern. This innovation has resulted in considerably better xtures
and eliminated much of the tedious hole positioning.
The patterns have proven extremely versatile. It is possible to use two number
7 transfer punches to align the pattern with the 1/4-20 tapped holes in an existing
piece and then mark additional holes to be drilled aligned with the previous hole
pattern. This technique has also been used in cases where the pattern is to small
to mark the entire part. The stock was marked under the pattern and several
holes were drilled. These holes were then used to position the pattern in a new
position, and marking was continued. Most of the patterns were made as general
as possible so that they could be used in many applications; however, when several
units of a specic part are desired, a specic pattern can be made for that part.
As an example, a special pattern was made to mark the holes for the ex-adjusters
discussed in section 21 on page 31.
:
6
Figure 2: Several of the patterns used to place holes on optical xtures.
5
Breadboards, Angles and Fixture Bars
Breadboards in various sizes are one of the most common optical xtures
needed. Figure 3 shows several sizes that have been found useful. Breadboards
can be fabricated by squaring a piece of aluminum in the mill, clamping a pattern
to it and transferring hole positions on 1/2 or 1 inch centers. The holes are then
center drilled, drilled and tapped or counterbored. A few close t clearance holes
counterbored for socket head cap screws make it easy to attach the breadboard
to dierent xtures for use. We have experimented with dierent hole patterns
in breadboards but generally use about half counterbored clearance holes and half
tapped holes on a 1/2 inch grid. The same general methods are used to make angle
plates and xture bars.
The earliest xture bars consisted of 1/2 by 1 1/2" bars with three rows of
holes on a 0.500" grid. Several xture bars are illustrated in gure 4 The holes were
alternately 1/4-20 tapped holes and free t holes ("H"). These bars were made in 12,
18, and 24" lengths. Several bars were also made from 3/4" stock for added stiness.
These basic bars are generally useful for a broad range of setup applications around
the laboratory. Latter slotted xture bars were made. These bars replace the center
row of holes with 1/4" slots 5" long. A mirror or other component can be mounted
at any position along the slot. These are not as strong as the basic xture bars;
however, they oer a continuous range of mounting positions.
The survey stand breadboard is a particularly useful device shown in gure
5. The survey stand breadboards are an 8" diameter plate with 1/4-20 holes on
half inch centers across the surface. The plate is attached to a K & E #71-5144
adapter (now available from Cubic Precision [7]) that ts the top of a Brunson
7
Figure 3: Breadboards are useful in a variety of sizes.
Figure 4: Fixture bars of 36, 18, and 12 inch length. Early models consisted of
alternating tapped and free t holes on a 1/2 inch grid. Later models are slotted
along the center to provide a more continuous range of adjustment.
8
Figure 5: The survey stand breadboard can be used to make a temporary optical
platform from any of the standard survey stands.
survey or tooling stand. By putting one of these breadboards on top of a survey
or tooling stand, an impromptu optical bench can be positioned nearly anywhere
in the laboratory. These have been very handy for quick optical setups and tests.
The breadboard gives the exibility to mount modular optical components and the
survey stand functions as a stable and reliable base. The rst two units were made
by measuring each hole position on the mill. This is the best way to do it; however,
it is extremely time consuming. Later units were made using one of the rst units
as the pattern. The old unit was clamped to a square plate of aluminum and all of
the holes were transfer punched. All of the holes were then center drilled. Every
hole except the center was then drilled, and tapped or counterbored. The metal was
rough cut to a circular shape with the band saw. It was then turned to the nal
dimension on the lathe held against the headstock by a live center in the center hole.
Finally, the center hole was drilled and tapped to complete the part.
A selection of small double sided breadboards is useful. These are short pieces
counterbored from one side on one end and counterbored from the opposite side on
the other end. They make it possible to secure a part with an upward bolt from
below and then to secure the board to the table with a downward bolt.
Angles are indispensable for the laboratory. They have been made in a wide
9
Figure 6: An assortment of angles have been made depending on the stock available.
variety of sizes depending on the stock available and several are illustrated in gure
6. They are cut from angle stock, and holes are drilled and tapped on each face
alternating tapped and through holes. They have been constructed in sizes ranging
from 1" to 9". They are extremely versatile for temporary setups and xturing.
We have also purchased and made several slotted angles. These are harder to make
than the drilled and tapped versions; however, they oer a continuous range of
adjustment and are often preferred.
6
Spacers
In setting up optical components some type of spacers are essential. Usually,
some type of adjuster can move an optical component over small distances and ne
tune its position; however, some means is desirable to put it in the right general
position initially. We use a binary series of spacers with thickness values of 1/4,
10
1/2, 1, 2, and 4 inches. This series is illustrated in gure 7. The spacers in each
size were made in 4 and 6 inch lengths. The process for making spacers was rst to
cut the metal to length and square it up in the mill. The rst spacers were made
by measuring each hole in the mill which proved very tedious and time consuming.
Use of patterns to transfer punch the hole patterns onto the spacers allowed much
faster construction with adequate accuracy. The 1/4" spacers consist simply of a
1/4" strip of Aluminum with a series of free t clearance holes down the center
with 0.500" spacing. The 1/2" spacers consist of a 1/2" square bar with alternating
1/4-20 tapped and close t clearance holes. The clearance holes are counterbored to
recess the head of a socket head cap screw. Roughly half of the spacers were made
with tapped holes near the end and the other half with clearance holes near the end.
The 1" spacers are similar except that they are drilled and tapped on adjacent 90
degree faces. The clearance hole on one face intersects a tapped hole on the other
face and vice versa. In this manner, a spacer with tapped holes near the ends is
converted to a spacer with clearance holes near the ends by rotating it 90 degrees
and only one type of spacer is needed. The two inch spacers were made from 1" by
2" stock. Again the spacers have rows of alternating holes down the center of each
90 degree face. The spacers are again made half with tapped holes near the end
and half with clearance holes near the ends. It was not possible to tap the entire
2" distance through the spacer so the tapped holes are only tapped to the depth
of the tap. Some accuracy is lost in drilling the 2" clearance holes on the far side
of the piece. The errors in the holes on the far side made it dicult to connect to
measured xtures. To ease this problem, the clearance holes were expanded to free
t or larger after the counterboring was done.
Cubic spacers are illustrated in gure 8. The 4" spacers were made from 4"
rectangular stock with 1/2" wall. The pieces were cut to length and squared up.
Then each face was drilled with a grid of alternating tapped and clearance holes.
There was some experimentation with the hole patterns on the rst units. The hole
pattern that was nally settled on was to have two opposite faces that matched,
and two that were opposite. For one face of the resulting rectangle, a 1/4-20 tapped
hole would be above the same type of hole on the opposite face. The two faces
at 90 degrees had opposite holes on the opposing face. This pattern allows one to
raise the pattern on the table by 4" using opposite faces or shift it 1/2" using same
faces. Because all four sides are drilled and tapped these are versatile xtures that
can be used as spacers or angles. Later chance acquisition of 3" rectangular stock
with 3/8" wall resulted in design and implementation of similar 3" spacers. These
3" cubic blocks are extremely versatile for general laboratory use.
11
Figure 7: Spacers with a thickness of 1/4", 1/2", 1", and 2" are useful for coarse
positioning of optical components.
Figure 8: Fixture cubes were made from 4 and 3 inch rectangular stock.
12
Figure 9: Instrument bases and posts provide versatile bases to position optical
components.
7
Instrument Bases and Posts
The instrument bases and posts illustrated in gure 9 are extremely simple
and inexpensive components. In general, it is probably more ecient to simply buy
them. On the other hand, they are very good introductory lathe projects. They are
very useful for introducing new students to the operation of the lathe, and making
some of them is good preparation for more advanced lathe projects. Posts are made
from 1/2" drill rod. The drill rod is cut to length, the ends faced, and the center
of the ends is recessed. Blind holes are tapped with a 1/4-20 thread 1/2" deep in
each end. A 3/4" 1/4-20 set screw is fastened with Loctite[8] into one end of the
post. These posts are used to mount a variety of components and can be connected
to form longer mounts. Tapping the drill rod is usually a particularly challenging
activity for the students as it is a bit harder to tap than aluminum. The instrument
bases are rough cut on the band saw. They are then turned between the vice jaws
and a life center to the proper diameter and the bevel cut on the top edge is made.
The part is then mounted in the three jaw vice, and the bottom is recessed so the
base will not rock. The bottom is then drilled and counterbored to accommodate
a socket head cap screw. The part is then labeled, shot preened and painted at
black. This project introduces the new students to a number of new shop operations
and the experiences are very valuable for more advanced projects.
13
Figure 10: Plumb Bobs and mounting xtures. All brass plumb bobs are not inuenced by magnetic elds.
8
Plumb Bobs and Accessories
In the early days there was considerable controversy regarding the use of plumb
bobs to layout beamlines. The synchrotron environment is lled with a bewildering
array of magnets ranging from relatively simple electromagnets to sophisticated
superconducting magnets. Commercial plumb bob manufacturers like to install
iron tips on plumb bobs to provide a durable point. The potential eect of the
magnetic elds on this iron tip was the subject of limitless speculation and occasional
inconclusive experiments. The construction of all brass plumb bobs put a premature
end to this daliance. The brass tip is denitely not as durable as the steel tip;
however, the devices were made long enough to allow occasional sharpening. The
basic plumb bob is made from 3/4" diameter brass rod. One end is sharpened to a
point and a 10-32 threaded rod is mounted in the opposite end with Loctite[8]. A
Reid [9] 10-32 ball knob is mounted on the threaded rod. A number 70 hole is drilled
in the ball knob to accommodate the string. Current controversy involves the best
string material. Silk suture thread is highly regarded; however, it has disappeared
from the surplus market. Monolament sh line can be used; however, the thinner
line tends to stretch.
Several accessories were designed to make use of plumb bobs easier. The
plumb line holders make it easy to attach a plumb line to any type of way or xture.
Typical plumb lines and xtures are illustrated in gure 10. The plumb line xtures
were made in two types.The rst type was made from 1/2" rectangular stock. One
14
end of the xture was beveled and a groove was led in the edge to provide an
unambiguous position for the string. A turn button and nger screw were provided
to hold the string at any desired height. The rest of the part was covered with
alternating 1/4-20 tapped holes and free t holes. The second plumb line holder
consists of a 1/16" plate with a 45 degree bend at one end. A notch was led in
the edge to form a groove for the string. Three free t holes on 1/2" centers can be
used to mount the component. Either of the two holders can be attached to any of
our standard ways or ex-adjusters to provide an adjustable plumb line.
9
Simple Mirror Mounts and Adapter
During normal laboratory operation there is a need for small mirrors that can
be quickly mounted for a variety of small tasks such as redirecting a laser. A large
number of allegedly simple mirror mounts have been described in the literature
[10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. Each of these mounts has advantages and disadvantages
depending on the application. For general use, we chose to use a simple mirror and
mount that was commercially available at a good price. We chose the Daedel[17]
model 2400 straight mirror mount with 25 by 35 mm 1/4 wave at mirror. This
mount consists of a back plate and kinematic plate with two adjusting screws that
adjust rotation of the mirror about two orthogonal axis. These mirrors worked
fairly well for routine general tasks; however, the mounting of the mirror was not
very exible. The universal mirror adapter was added to makes it possible to mount
the basic mirror in many ways. The mirror adapter contains a 1 inch long slot
which accommodates a 1/4-20 socket head cap screw for securing the mount. Each
side of the adapter has holes to attach the mirror in a dierent way. The mirror
mount can be attached to each of the four sides of the adapter facing toward or away
from the slot (eight combinations). The adapter with several mirror orientations are
illustrated in gure 11. These mirrors and adapters nd many uses in our laboratory.
10
Vacuum Flange Holders and Mounts
On numerous occasions it has been necessary to either support or attach something rmly to a 2 3/4" vacuum ange. The vacuum ange holder(3173C500) was
designed for these applications. It consists of a 4" by 5 1/4" plate. One end has
alternating tapped and through holes as well as slots for versatile mounting. The
other end consists of a split circle that ts around a vacuum ange and locks securely when the two sections of the circle are tightened together. Normal and metric
15
Figure 11: The simple mirror mount adapter makes it possible to mount small
mirrors in a variety of ways.
vacuum ange holders are illustrated in gure 12. They are made by rst squaring
the stock to the proper size. Then a pattern is used to mark the 1/4" tapped and
clearance holes as well as the ends of the slots. After drilling and tapping of the holes
and milling the slots, the piece is mounted in a lath jig with the reference surface of
the piece aligned to that of the jig. A large hole is then drilled in the vacuum ange
location. A boring tool is then used to expand the hole so that a vacuum ange
just ts inside it. The piece is then removed from the jig and a number seven drill
is used to drill the holes that will fasten the two parts of the circle together. The
holes must be drilled below the cut to assure that the holes will match after cutting.
Before the parts are sawed apart, index marks are installed on the top and bottom
piece so that the parts can always be assembled in the same way. After cutting, the
rough edges are then cleaned up on the mill. The tapped holes are then drilled to
depth and tapped in the base part. The through holes are drilled out to the proper
size and counter bored in the matching part of the mount. It was found necessary
to make these units in two sizes to accommodate Imperial 2 3/4" anges (2.730")
and metric 70 mm (2.752") anges. For convenient identication, the tops of the
metric holders are painted light blue and "METRIC" is stamped on them.
It is often desirable to hold a vacuum ange with a slit or other optical component attached to it in a test set up on the optical bench. The vacuum ange mounts
illustrated in gure 13 were made for this purpose. A ange with an ultraviolet lamp
mounted on it is shown in the gure. These mounts are made by cutting an angle of
Aluminum and nishing the edges on the mill. One side of the angle is marked using
a pattern. It is then drilled and taped with the desired hole pattern. A standard
blank vacuum ange is then c clamped to the other side of the angle and the holes
are marked with a transfer punch. the holes are then drilled and the clearance area
16
Figure 12: vacuum ange holder (3173C500) in metric and inch sizes.
adjacent to the center of the ange is cut out with the band saw. After appropriate
deburring, stamping, and cleaning, the mount is ready for use. An assortment of
vacuum ange mounts has proven useful for numerous bench tests.
11
Universal Round Thing Holders
One of the common problems encountered is mounting cylindrical components.
Routinely cylindrical items such as telescopes or lasers have to be mounted and
aligned. Several specic xtures that perform this function for a specic manufacturers product are available; however, there seem to be few general xtures available
for this task. To fulll this need, the universal round thing holders were designed.
They are basically v-blocks in aluminum. After that tapped holes and free t clearance holes are put in as much of the rest of the material as possible for mounting
to other components. Early versions had a spring across the channel to hold things
securely in the v-groove. Later versions employed an extension spring with a short
length of sash chain attached. Several sizes are shown in gure 14 The spring can be
extended over a component in the groove and the sash chain secured to a hook on
the opposite side. Several dierent sizes of these holders are in use in our laboratory
to mount and position round or generally cylindrical items of varying size. They
can be conveniently used to mount nearly anything to a breadboard or any stage or
component with a matching hole pattern.
17
Figure 13: Vacuum ange mounts allow convenient mounting of vacuum anges
on optical benches and test set ups. Two mounts with dierent hole patterns are
illustrated (front) and a ange with a lamp attached is shown attached to a mount
(back).
Figure 14: Universal round thing holders have been made in a variety of sizes to
hold round components like telescopes and lasers. The xture on the right is holding
the telescope Barlow lens.
18
Figure 15: Meles Griot mounted slits and pinholes and xtures to facilitate their
use.
12
Pinholes and Slits
Pinholes and slits were a particular problem in the early days of our laboratory.
The operative assumption was that with a pin and a couple of razor blades any
experiment could be improvised in a couple of minutes. This assumption is denitely
not true. As an example, the rst time this was tried, it required three days in the
shop to fabricate a variable slit from a couple of razor blades. The slit actually
functioned fairly well; however, two workers cut themselves with it and only one day
had been estimated for the entire experiment. The problem was eventually solved
by ordering Melles Griot [18] mounted slits and pinholes. These slits and pinholes
are accurately laser cut and come mounted in a 16 mm diameter labeled disk for
ease of use. Figure 15 shows a selection of slits and pinholes and a xture made to
facilitate their use. The units were ordered a few at a time so that they did not
attract attention and eventually, a full set was acquired. It was relatively easy to
make small xtures that allowed pinholes or slits to be mounted interchangeably
with half turn buttons. Generally, the holders have a circular hole that the pinhole
or slit will t into with its edge ush with the surface of the holder. Half turn buttons
are positioned to hold the slit or pinhole in place. Many of the photodiode mounts
were made with provisions for mounting a slit or pinhole in front of the photodiode.
Mounted on linear ways, these units could be used to scan image proles.
19
13
Photodiode Holders
Photodiodes are attractive for numerous bench measurements in the laboratory. Although they have lower gain than photomultipliers, they are a lot more
durable and convenient to use. Unfortunately, the TO-5 can is not particularly convenient to mount and to connect leads to for a laboratory measurement. A simple
detector mount compatible with standard optics xtures with easily connected leads
was desired for general laboratory use. Two solutions are illustrated in gure 16.
The rst eort consisted of 3 1/2" by 2" plates of aluminum with a photodiode
mounted near one end. Both Hamamatsu[19] S1336-CBQ and G1127-02 SC photodiodes were used. A counterbore in front of the photodiode allowed placement of
a Meles Griot[18] mounted pin hole or slit in front of the photodiode for mapping
studies. A Pamona[20] 1452 connector was attached to the end of the plate with
plastic screws, and the leads from the diode secured in the terminals. The diode
can be connected to other equipment using the banana jacks or BNC jack of the
connector. The rest of the plate contained alternating 1/4-20 tapped and free t
holes for convenient mounting to standard optical xtures.
Later the Hamamatsu S2281-01 mounted Photodiode was discovered. This
unit consists of a large area photodiode built into a convenient unit with a BNC
connector. They are extremely convenient for general laboratory use and numerous
xtures were made to hold them.
14
Stands and Stand Sliders
During the construction of beamlines, numerous stands (3173C494) are required to hold plumb lines, screens, and other test equipment. Because of the
limited space around the synchrotron, the stands should occupy minimal oor space
and be reasonably portable while maintaining a high measure of stability and reproducibility. Any tendency for a stand to swing or twist in the wind is to be
avoided at all cost. The basic design illustrated in gure 17 generally meets these
requirements. The stand consists basically of an aluminum tube with three legs
attached. The stand legs were from an aluminum rectangle. Each rectangle was
cut on the band saw to make two legs and preserve metal. Stands were made in
groups of two requiring six legs. The side of the leg that mates to the tube has
a channel machined in it so the outer edges of the channel rest against the tube
and there is no tendency of the parts to rock against the round tube. Dog point
steel nger screws[21] are used as leveling screws on each leg. The top of the post
20
Figure 16: A simple photodiode mount is shown (back) and a Hamamatsu mounted
S2281-01 photodiode (front right) and holder (front left).
21
Figure 17: Stands (3173C494) used for laying out beamlines must be portable with
a small base while maintaining the needed stability.
is capped with a 1" aluminum disk with 1/4-20 tapped holes in a 1/2" grid. Two
handles along the side provide a good grip for transportation and placement of the
stands. The stands were made in three heights. Three were made four to six inches
lower then the synchrotron beam height (nominally 48 inches). These are handy
for positioning lenses and other optical components in the white light from a port.
Another three were made slightly higher than the beam height. These can be used
to mount plumb bobs and other items that hang in the light beam. Several users
of these stands added 2-3 foot height extensions for certain applications. To satisfy
this need, four units were built about six feet in height. Although the basic design
is the same, the size of the base was increased slightly for these stands.
Later stand sliders were made to allow mounting of components at any height
on a stand. These consist of aluminum channel attached to the stand with modied
22
hose clamps. A generous number of 1/4-20 holes were tapped in the channel to
attach other components. These sliders were also made in other sizes to attach
optical components to any cylindrical stand.
15
Prism Holder
The prism holder shown in gure 18 is a versatile component that can be used
to mount many components. The construction begins with the stamping of the
hole pattern onto the base using a pattern. After that the holes are drilled, tapped
and counterbored. The part is then mounted in the mill, and the same reference
edges are used to mill two slots along the hole pattern. These slots can be used
to hold lters, beam splitters, or other components that are too thin to sit solidly
on the platform. After that, the base is rough cut round and turned down on the
lathe to nish the outside surface. The post is made from 3/8" drill rod. It is
very similar to a standard post except that the diameter is smaller, and only one
end is nished. The other end is simply rounded. The hold down arm is reamed
one thousandth over the drill rod size and a knurled nger screw is provided to
allow the height of the arm to be adjusted. Two tapped holes are provided for the
hold down screw. This allows the posts to be mounted in two dierent locations
at dierent distances from the center. A 1/4-20 nger screw is provided to clamp
components in place. A nylon cushion is attached to the base of the nger screw
with a 4-40 ABH screw. The nylon cushion has a v-groove that can be used to
hold thin components or cylindrical objects. These mounts have been slow to gain
acceptance in the laboratory; however, they are very versatile and are used when
needed.
16
Kinematic Parts
Design of optical stages of any kind usually requires the principals of kinematic
design[2, 22, 23]. These state briey that a part has 6 degrees of freedom, and that
to be unambiguously dened in space 6 and only 6 contact points are required to
position the part. Typically a part is mounted with a ball in a trihedral mount (3
contact points), a ball in a v-groove (2 points), and another ball against a at (1
point). The easiest way that we have found to acquire a trihedral hole, is to place
a ball inside the hex shaped indentation in a stainless steel socket head or button
head cap screw. Technically the hex heads of bolts are not true trihedral mounts.
They might be expected to have 6 points of contact rather than three; however, in
23
Figure 18: The prism holder is a versatile mount for lters, prisms, and other
components.
24
practice, three of the points will be highest and determine the position. Prior to
use, the screw heads are tested by placing a ball in them and feeling for any rocking
or position movement Nearly all of them have passed this test without modication,
and performed adequately as a three point of contact mount.
The second problem of the kinematic design is the v-groove. Cutting a v-groove
in a hard material is not a good job for a novice machinist. Also it is desirable to use
a harder surface than the aluminum we favor for our optical xtures. We initially
solved this problem by using 1/4 inch drill rod. Drill rod is available commercially
with tight diameter tolerances at reasonable prices. An acceptable V groove can
be formed by gluing two short pieces of drill rod into a slot made by an end mill
in the aluminum. This gives a functional v-groove with only limited machining.
Commercial 1/4" dowel pins can also be used. These are available in short lengths
with precise diameter tolerance, hardened surfaces, and can be used without any
machining.
Aluminum is a relatively soft material and a ball resting against a at aluminum surface might be expected to dent or mar the surface under load. It is
consequently desirable to make the at which the ball will rest against of a harder
material. We have used stainless steel hex head bolts for this purpose. A minimum
of three bolts are tightened into a small piece of aluminum. Holding the aluminum
piece, the tops of the bolt heads are ground smooth on a belt sander. After all of the
manufacturers marks are removed and the heads are at, the heads are lapped with
successively ner emery cloth until they are polished nearly to a mirror nish. They
are then removed from the xture and the sharp edges are broken. The resulting
bolts can be mounted in tapped holes to form replaceable ats in kinematic optics
mounts. In cases where the movement of the ball on the at is very small, such as
ex adjusters, a large surface area is not needed. In this case, the same methods
can be used to atten the end surface of a stainless steel set screw. The set screws
are secured in a xture and the set points ground o leaving a at surface. The
surface is then lapped to the desired nish. These ats can then be secured into a
tapped hole with Loctite[8] so that the at steel surface is ush with the aluminum
surface. This provides a relatively hard steel surface for the ball to rest against in
an aluminum component. Another solution is to use tool steel inserts. Inserts are
available from Doall which just t inside a 1/4-20 counterbored hole. The depth of
the hole can be adjusted so the insert rests ush with the surface. The inserts are
glued into the holes to give a secure mounting. In the event of damage to the insert,
a punch can be used to knock it out and another one can be glued in place.
One of the fundamental advantages of kinematic mountings made by these
methods is that the contact points are replaceable. If a at, ball, or v groove is
damaged, it can simply be removed and another one put in its place. Solvents or
heat can be used to facilitate removal of old glue. Although this was considered
25
Figure 19: Kinematic mounts can be used to accurately reposition optical components.
when we started making these parts, to date very few of these units have required
service, and fewer have required replacement.
17
Kinematic Mounts
The kinematic mounts shown in gure 19 are the simplest example of a kinematic design. The base of the mount has counterbored holes that can be used to
attach it to any of the standard xtures. The base contains a trihedral mount in
the form of a button head screw, a v-groove formed from two rods, and a at made
from a hex head bolt. The top plate has three 3/16" balls glued into the socket of
three button head screws. When used with care, the top plate can be positioned
accurately and repeatably on the base plate. Optical components mounted to the
top plate can be removed and replaced in an optical system without the need to
realign.
26
Figure 20: The laser aimer (3173C479) is basically a kinematic tilt stage that allows
the angle of a laser to be easily adjusted.
18
Aiming Stages
The laser aimer (3173C479) was one of the rst kinematic stages designed and
built. There was a general need to mount lasers in test positions for a wide variety
of laboratory needs. A mount was desired that would allow the laser to be aimed
at a target easily with independent adjustments. The laser aimer is illustrated in
gure 20 and consists of a kinematic stage with adjustments of the lengthwise tilt,
and the yaw of the top plate. The mount employs one ball and socket contact in
front, a ball and at contact to the side, and two ball and at contacts in back
to control the tilt and yaw of the plate. About half of the aimers were made with
1/4-20 adjusting screws for less critical applications. The other half were made with
1/4-80 screws for more critical applications.
19
Tilt Stages
Tilt stages were made in 4 by 4" and 8 by 8" sizes. Three are shown in gure
21. Compared to commercial tilt stages ours have an excessive number of holes.
There are 1/4-20 tapped holes on 1" centers. Between these there are through holes
27
Figure 21: Tilt stages are made in 4" and 8" sizes using coarse and ne adjusting
screws.
counterbored for 1/4-20 socket head cap screws. The plate above the counterbore
is drilled 3/8" to accommodate installation and tightening of the bolt in the plate
below. There are similar counterbored holes in the top plate with clearance holes for
the bolt in the plate below. This means that the stages can be mounted in a large
number of ways. The stage consists of one ball and socket joint, a ball and groove,
and a ball and at. The groove is formed by two dowel pins glued into a slot formed
with an end mill. The two parts are held in contact by extension springs held in
place with recessed keeper pins. Again, half of the stages use 1/4-20 adjusters, and
the other half 1/4-80.
20
Acrylic projects
The ready availability of acrylic sheets and tubes makes them a convenient material to build holders and storage containers from. Acrylic materials have been used
to make holders and storage containers for ion gauges, sublimators, feedthroughs,
mirrors and other vacuum parts as illustrated in gure 22. They have the advantage that the part can be viewed inside the container without having to expose the
part to handling. This makes them particularly appropriate for covering or storing
28
mirrors and gratings. Although the acrylic holders are beautiful and functional,
there are some unique aspects to machining acrylic. First acrylic tends to self feed
and chip when machined. Straight ute drills and lathe tools with a negative rake
are recommended for best results. The material tends to heat up and melt during
machining operations and water can be used as a cutting uid. It is machined rather
easily but the surface nish is frosted on the machined area. Machined surfaces are
easily glued (solvent bonded) to assemble parts. A bit of care is required in making
these parts because the tolerances on acrylic tube are fairly large compared to metal
parts. It is wise to measure the actual tube being used and cut the parts with a
larger than normal tolerance.
The most successful acrylic holders are the holders manufactured for grazing
incidence mirrors. A typical mirror holder is illustrated in gure 23. It consists of
an acrylic tube supported by two rectangular legs that form a yoke below the tube.
Two bridge pieces inside the tube support a plunger screw that holds the mirror
against the bottom of the tube. The critical mirror surface is facing downward, and
the mirror is supported by its edges against the bottom of the tube. Two end caps
are attached to the tube with thumb screws. Generally, critical information about
each mirror is stamped into a metal tag and attached to the end cap. The major
advantage of this form of storage is that the mirror can be visually inspected and
roughly measured at any time without removing it from the holder.
Construction of these holders is a good intermediate lathe project and introduces students to a number of basic lathe operations. The end plates are turned
between the lathe chuck and a life center after being rough cut on the band saw.
Turning the ends of the tube is a problem because the long acrylic tube will deform and move in the lathe chuck under machining pressure. This was prevented
by mounting the tube on an expandable mandrel close to the end being machined.
A special face plate was made to machine the base yoke and bridging pieces. The
base pieces were rough cut and attached to the face plate equal distances from the
center. Sacricial plastic washers were placed under them so the entire piece could
be machined without damage to the base plate. The boring tool was used to machine the parts until the desired acrylic tube would just t inside the two parts. In
a similar manner, the bridging parts were attached to the base plate and the outer
surface was machined until the tube would just t over them. The resulting parts
were temporarily clamped to the tube and solvent bonded in place.
29
Figure 22: Acrylic enclosures are easily made to protect ion gauges, sublimators,
and other vacuum components.
Figure 23: Acrylic mirror or grating holders allow visual inspection of the optic
while providing protection for the critical surfaces.
30
21
Flex-Adjusters
The ex-adjusters (3173C480) were designed in response to a need for approximately linear movements without the expense of linear ways. Attempts to obtain
enough linear ways to satisfy the appetite of the laboratory proved woefully inadequate. Additional ways simply vanished into the background on arrival. The
majority of the applications of the ways did not require a micrometer or exactly
linear motion. Most required only roughly linear motion with a reasonably smooth
and reproducible adjusting screw. The initial design goal was to have about one
half inch of motion at the end of a 6 inch exural hinge. It is worthy of note that
this hinge design provides an angle adjuster or a position adjuster depending on its
use. The basic hinge design is illustrated in gure 24 and nished ex-adjusters are
illustrated in gure 25. This type of hinge has been characterized and equations
have been derived to describe its performance[24, 25]. The ends of the hinge are
controlled with an adjusting screw against a at. A recessed spring is used to hold
the adjusting screw against the at. To limit motion to the expected one quarter
inch in each direction, the length of the screw was chosen to give 1/4 inch of thread
between the hinge and the screw head in the neutral position. The hinge channel is
made 1/4 inch thick to limit travel in the other direction. This imposes a maximum
angle of exure, , of 0.042 radians. Testing of available springs indicated that 5
lbs of force was available from extension springs of the appropriate length. The
compliance of a exural hinge[24] is given by equation 1
1=2
=
= 29 5=2
(1)
where R is the radius of the exure, t is the thickness of the exure, b is the width
of the exure as illustrated in gure 24. In this expression, E is Youngs Modulus
(for Aluminum = 6 00 2 1010 in metric units). For our design R is 3 8 inch, t
is 1/16 inch, and b is 1/2 inch. Converting these values to meters and substituting
gives.
= 0 042 = 0 0184
(2)
C ompliance
E
R
M
E bt
:
=
C ompliance
:
:
M
This gives a moment of 2.265 and indicates that a force of 14.86 newtons or 3.34
pounds will be required to displace the ends of the hinge by the design value of 1/4
inch. This is less than the 5 lbs of force and should work well.
The stress in a exural hinge of this design[25] is given by equation 3 below.
= 2( 3 2)2
(3)
31
S tress
M
b=
t
R
b
t
Figure 24: The basic structure of the exural hinge type pivot.
With appropriate unit conversions.
S tress
= 4 31 2 108
:
(4)
This can be compared to the stress limit of the material to determine if the
exure exceeds elastic limits. Strength limits of 6061 and 6063 aluminum alloys[26]
range from 1 5 0 3 1 2 108 depending on the temper. This calculation indicates that
the yield strength is exceeded and the device will eventually fail. Communication
with other engineers revealed the fact that many hand actuated exural hinge designs exceed the elastic limit. These designs are in a gray area where it is certain
that if the hinge were actuated perhaps 50 or 100 thousand cycles it is certain that
the hinge would fail. Since the hinge is activated by hand and no one wants to do
this, it is likely that the hinge could enjoy a long and practical life. This design
was adapted with these parameters and the date of manufacture stamped into each
hinge. This has allow us to get a practical idea of the useful service life of these
units. It has now been about 10 years since the rst units were made. So far no unit
has failed from stress fracture or fatigue. The most common failure mode involves
being dropped or tipped onto the concrete oor attached to other heavy objects.
This tends to bend the hinge and make it unusable. Although the elastic limit is
exceeded in the design, it appears that for a manually activated device, the time to
failure is extremely long and the units have a very long service life. We have made a
large number of these adjusters with one half inch and three quarter inch thickness
using coarse and ne adjusting screws as illustrated in gure 25.
32
:
:
Figure 25: Flex-adjusters (3173C480) have been made in half inch width with course
adjusters and in 3/4 inch width with coarse and ne adjusting screws.
22
Fancy Mirror Mounts
The fancy mirror mounts (3173C477) were designed to hold high quality 10
optics or better. Two of these mounts are shown in gure 26. They include a acrylic
cover for the optic so that they also provide safe storage for the optical element. The
optic is held held against two teon rods by a nylon tipped set screw. This provides
a rm mounting for the optic with reduced risk of stress fracture. The base can be
shifted to change the handedness of the mount. They are a relatively sophisticated
shop project generally done in the late summer after students have accumulated
considerable experience in the shop. Advanced shop skills required include use of
the 4 jaw lathe chuck, use of an edge nder, and ability to tap 1/4-80 holes. Doing
all of the machining operations in the proper sequence is helpful to the nal result.
Generally, the parts are machined except for the 1/4-80 holes which are only marked
with a center drill. The parts are then shot preened and painted at black. After
that the holes for the 1/4-80 mounting screws are drilled, reamed, and tapped. This
order of production is necessary because the 1/4-80 threads cannot withstand the
shot preening and painting process. Generally, 1/4-80 threads are reserved for the
more experienced students, because the slightest mishandling is likely to result in
failure. Fancy mirror mounts have been designed to accommodate 2, 3, 4, and 5"
round mirrors varying in thickness from 3/4" to more than 1".
33
=
Figure 26: Fancy mirror mountsv (3173C477) provide a versatile mounting for quality optics and safe storage.
23
4 Way Laser Aligner
The 4 way laser aimer (3173C501) shown in gure 27 is a particularly useful
piece of laboratory equipment. The rst impulse of most people wanting to align a
laser beam is to move the laser. The laser aiming stage is an example of this way of
thinking. The four way laser aligner uses a stationary laser and moves the output
beam. There are four adjusting screws. Two screws change the angle of the light
beam coming o the last mirror. The other two screws translate the beam in x and
y without changing its angle. The range of translation is about 3/4 inch. If the laser
and aimer are set up fairly close to the desired position, the adjustments allow rapid
adjustment of the beam to the correct position. The translation of the beam is done
with mirrors. The laser should hit the center of the rst mirror and the rst mirror
and second mirror must rotate together. A rotation of the two mirrors will move
the point of contact on the second mirror and move the beam without changing the
output beam angle.
The unit uses exural hinges instead of pivots to rotate the mirrors. The exural pivot pieces are assembled with tamper proof screws to prevent inexperienced
workers from taking apart the assembly.
34
Figure 27: The four way laser aimer (3173C501) allows adjustment of the x and y
position and tilt of a laser beam with independent adjustment.
35
24
Drill Rod Stage
Linear Stages are very expensive and there is no substitute for a well built
crossed bearing slide when you really need one. They are perpetually in short
supply and no solution has been found for this problem. In many cases, one nds
that the expensive crossed bearing slides are often used in less critical applications
where a much cheaper alternative would work equally well. The ex adjusters were
the rst attempt to create an alternative and the drill rod stage illustrated in gure
28 was a second attempt. The drill rod stage employs a sliding stage which slides on
two 3/8" diameter drill rods. Steel backed teon bearings are press t into the slide
to provide a low grade way. The stage is controlled by a lead screw machined from
a 3/8-18 threaded rod. The lead screw is mounted in a journal bearings press t
into the end plates. The same type of steel backed teon bearings are used in this
case. The machining tolerances of the nal unit are demanding for students because
the rods and lead screw must be in perfect alignment or the slider will bind at one
or both ends of the travel. It is important to keep track of the reference edges used
when machining the parts and be sure that the parts are assembled in the proper
orientation to obtain the necessary tolerances. For this purpose witness marks were
put on the base plate, end plates, and slider so they could be assembled with the
reference edges together. The tolerances on the lead screw shaft are challenging for
students and there is some slop in the nal unit. Although the nal units are not
perfect they are functional for many applications, and perform some of the tasks
previously done by more expensive ways.
25
Conclusions
This eort to build optical xtures has been inuenced by the special interests
of our laboratory and our needs. It involves a combination of physics, mechanical
engineering and machining. We have used a combination of commercial components
and home built xtures. The combined eort has produced a fairly comprehensive
optics laboratory. In many cases, the eorts pushed the limits of the students
who made these components. It is now possible to perform fairly sophisticated
optical tests from components on hand without having to go to the machine shop to
fabricate additional parts or components. Although none of these components are
scientically signicant, their combined presence is. These xtures permit tests to be
performed with a minimum of preparation and allow time for other pursuits. They
have made a tremendous dierence in the volume and quality of scientic work done.
It is important to view these xtures as a renewable resource and not a consumable.
Ideally, xtures and parts are assembled for each need, used, and returned to stock
36
Figure 28: The drill rod stage is a relatively inexpensive linear stage that can satisfy
less critical laboratory needs.
so that they will be available for other needs. The tendency to build in these parts
should be avoided. In a similar manner, parts should not be arbitrarily modied
for specic needs. Strangely, people who wouldn't even consider making a xture
themselves, will cut yours up to make exactly what they think they want in mere
seconds. This happens without any regard for the hours of work already invested in
the part. This tendency, as well as extended borrowing, must be guarded against.
Acknowledgments
The work of numerous student hourlies each of whom has manufactured a
few optics xtures which furthered the work and capabilities of the optics group
is gratefully acknowledged. The Synchrotron Radiation Center is supported under
NSF Grant No. DMR 8601349.
References
[1] F. Quercioli, B. Tiribilli, A. Mannoni, S. Acciai `Optomechanics with Lego'
Applied Optics 1998, 37, 3408-3416.
37
Figure 29: An example of the use of standard xtures to monitor the position of a
mirror box.
[2] John H. Moore, Christopher C. Davis, Michael A. Coplan 'Building Scientic Apparatus, A Practical Guide to Design and Construction' Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. 1983.
[3] Thor Labs, Inc. P. O. Box 366 Newton, New Jersey 07860.
[4] Advanced Car Mover Co., Inc. 112 N. Outagamie Street Appleton, Wisconsin
54911.
[5] Machinery Handbook, New York: The Industrial Press, 1959.
[6] Henry Petroski `Work and Play' American Scientist 1999, 87(3), 208-212.
[7] Cubic Precision, 750 Huyler Street, Teterboro, New Jersey 07603.
[8] Loctite Corporation, Newington, Ct 06111.
[9] Reid Tool Supply Company, 2265 Black Creek Road, Muskegon, Michigan
49444.
[10] I. S. Falconer, and E. Peklo 'A simple adjustable Holder for Laser Reectors'
Review of Scientic Instruments 1971, 42, 151.
[11] J. R. Pekelsky 'Simple Stable Kinematic Mirror Mount' Review of Scientic
Instruments 1979, 50, 258.
38
[12] Paul W. Pace, J. B. Atkinson 'Simple High-resolution Laser Mirror Mount'
Review of Scientic Instruments 1976, 47, 1215.
[13] H. Houtman 'Optics Mount with 1800 angle of view from both sides' Review of
Scientic Instruments 1987, 58, 1188-1189.
[14] Earnest F. Bergmann 'Simple Kinematic Laser Mirror Mount' Review of Scientic Instruments 1972, 43, 548.
[15] Martin Gundersen, Herbert B. Lloyd, Bernard W. Poarch 'Mirror Mount for
Long Wavelength Lasers' Review of Scientic Instruments 1972, 43, 333-334.
[16] R. R. Giedt, R. W. F. Gross 'Mirror Mount for a Shock Tube Laser Cavity'
Review of Scientic Instruments 1969, 40, 1238-1239.
[17] Daedel Division, Parker Hannin Corporation, Sandy Hill Road, P. O. Box 500
Harrison City, Pa. 15636.
[18] Melles Griot, 1770 Kettering Street, Irvine, California 92714
[19] Hamamatsu Corporation, 360 Foothill Road, Box 6910, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807-0960.
[20] Pomona Electronics, 1500 E. Ninth Street, Pomona, California 91766
[21] MacMaster Carr, PO Box 4355, Chicago, Illinois 60680
[22] J. E. Furse `Kinematic Design of Fine Mechanisms in Instruments' J. Physics
E: Scientic Instrumentation 1981, 14, 264-271.
[23] Tom Oversluizen, Walter Stoeber, and Erik D. Johnson 'Kinematic Mounting
Systems for National Synchrotron Light Source Beamlines and Experiments'
Review of Scientic Instruments 1985, 63, 1285-1288.
[24] J. M. Paros, L. Wisbord 'How to design Flexural Hinges' Machine Design
November 25, 1965.
[25] Robert D. Cook, Warren C. Young 'Advanced Mechanics of Materials' New
York: Macmillan Publishing Company 1985, p27-30.
[26] Ronald A Walsh, 'McGraw-Hill Machining and Metalworking Handbook' New
York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1994.
39
A
Appendix|Diculty level
Diculty level of projects
Beginning Projects
spacers
angles
breadboards
Instrument Base
posts
Plumb Bob
plumb line holder
ex aperture
Intermediate Projects
Simple Mirror Mounts
Universal Round Thing Holders
Stands and stand slider
vacuum ange holders
Photodiode Holders
pinholes and slits
Kinematic base
laser aligners
tilt stages
Mirror Storage case
Prism Holder
Acrylic projects
Advanced Projects
ex adjusters
Fancy mirror mounts
4 way laser aimer
Drill rod linear stage
40
B
Appendix|Drawing Names and Numbers
Fixtures with Drawings
Component
Drawing Number Unocial le
vacuum ange Holder
Laser aimer stage
Stand Assy
Flex Adjustor Assy's
Fancy 2" mirror holder Assy
Fancy 3" mirror holder Assy
Fancy 4" mirror holder Assy
Laser Aimer Assy, 4 way
Universal Plumb Line Holder
survey breadboard
xture cube 3"
stand slider
Instrument base 3"
Instrument base 4"
vacuum ange Angle Holder
posts
tilt stage, ne, 4"
tilt stage, coarse, 4"
slotted angle 3"
slotted angle 4"
Drill Rod Stage
Prism Holder
Prism Holder B
Large Stand Slider
Folding aperture
Mirror Case
Mirror Case
Tap holder 2
Tap holder back plate
Metric Tap Holder
3173C500
3173D479
3173D494
3173D480
3173D476
3173D477
3173D478
3173D501
41
nghld.drw
exadj2.drw
fancy2.mnt
fancy3.mnt
fancy4.mnt
laimer3.drw
plinehld.drw
surbb.drw
fblock3.drw
stapd.drw
instbas3.drw
instbas4.drw
conatang.drw
post2.drw
tilt4f.drw
tilt4.drw
adjangle3.drw
adjangle4.drw
linearway.drw
prismhldr.drw
prismhldrb.drw
lslide.drw
exaperf.drw
Mirhldr2.drw
Mirhldr3.drw
taphldr2.drw
thldbp.drw
mettaphldr1.drw
C
Appendix|Figures
List of Figures
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
A holder for taps, tap drills, close t drills, and free t drills.
Several of the patterns used to place holes on optical xtures.
Breadboards are useful in a variety of sizes.
Fixture bars of 36, 18, and 12 inch length. Early models consisted of
alternating tapped and free t holes on a 1/2 inch grid. Later models
are slotted along the center to provide a more continuous range of
adjustment.
The survey stand breadboard can be used to make a temporary optical platform from any of the standard survey stands.
An assortment of angles have been made depending on the stock
available.
Spacers with a thickness of 1/4", 1/2", 1", and 2" are useful for coarse
positioning of optical components.
Fixture cubes were made from 4 and 3 inch rectangular stock.
Instrument bases and posts provide versatile bases to position optical
components.
Plumb Bobs and mounting xtures. All brass plumb bobs are not
inuenced by magnetic elds.
The simple mirror mount adapter makes it possible to mount small
mirrors in a variety of ways.
vacuum ange holder (3173C500) in metric and inch sizes.
Vacuum ange mounts allow convenient mounting of vacuum anges
on optical benches and test set ups. Two mounts with dierent hole
patterns are illustrated (front) and a ange with a lamp attached is
shown attached to a mount (back).
Universal round thing holders have been made in a variety of sizes to
hold round components like telescopes and lasers. The xture on the
right is holding the telescope Barlow lens.
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15 Meles Griot mounted slits and pinholes and xtures to facilitate their
use.
16 A simple photodiode mount is shown (back) and a Hamamatsu mounted
S2281-01 photodiode (front right) and holder (front left).
17 Stands (3173C494) used for laying out beamlines must be portable
with a small base while maintaining the needed stability.
18 The prism holder is a versatile mount for lters, prisms, and other
components.
19 Kinematic mounts can be used to accurately reposition optical components.
20 The laser aimer (3173C479) is basically a kinematic tilt stage that
allows the angle of a laser to be easily adjusted.
21 Tilt stages are made in 4" and 8" sizes using coarse and ne adjusting
screws.
22 Acrylic enclosures are easily made to protect ion gauges, sublimators,
and other vacuum components.
23 Acrylic mirror or grating holders allow visual inspection of the optic
while providing protection for the critical surfaces.
24 The basic structure of the exural hinge type pivot.
25 Flex-adjusters (3173C480) have been made in half inch width with
course adjusters and in 3/4 inch width with coarse and ne adjusting
screws.
26 Fancy mirror mountsv (3173C477) provide a versatile mounting for
quality optics and safe storage.
27 The four way laser aimer (3173C501) allows adjustment of the x and
y position and tilt of a laser beam with independent adjustment.
28 The drill rod stage is a relatively inexpensive linear stage that can
satisfy less critical laboratory needs.
29 An example of the use of standard xtures to monitor the position of
a mirror box.
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