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Image # 1 - Interference microscope with a piezo focusing stage used for measuring surface roughness.

I tried out the 3D printed parts for the W1-IM (interference microscope stand) a couple days ago. The results are not a total surprise – it sort of works. Actually it almost works well. If the room is quiet, the fringes stay still. In reality it doesn’t work as designed. There are two problems. One is that ABS is just not stiff enough. The other problem is I designed a stand that assumed it was stiffer than it was. Put another way, I need more triangles in the stand to stiffen it. Now it’s a challenge to make a 3D printed stand for supporting the W1-IM on a part to get stable fringes without isolation. I’ll try again in the near future and hopefully it will be a total success.