diff --git a/reader/JFJochCBFReader.cpp b/reader/JFJochCBFReader.cpp
index 7d554119f..2556df484 100644
--- a/reader/JFJochCBFReader.cpp
+++ b/reader/JFJochCBFReader.cpp
@@ -152,16 +152,21 @@ std::optional<DetectorOrientation> ImageOrientation(const minicbf::Header &h) {
 // scan turns about the base axis however the cradle is set - which is why a header carrying a large
 // fixed chi still comes out as the base axis here - and only a phi scan is carried by chi and by
 // omega. Chi turns about the beam, as the imgCIF axis convention has it, pointing back at the
-// source; internal z points the other way, hence the minus. A kappa arm cannot be expressed at all:
-// its inclination is a property of the hardware that no miniCBF header states.
+// source; internal z points the other way, hence the minus. A head whose inner circle is inclined -
+// a fixed-chi stage, a kappa arm - states that inclination in its axis table and nowhere else.
 Coord RotationAxis(const minicbf::Header &h) {
     const Coord base = BaseAxis(h);
     if (!minicbf::ScansPhi(h))
         return base;
 
     const auto rad = [](double deg) { return static_cast<float>(deg * PI / 180.0); };
+    // Where the table states the inner axis outright, that IS the inclination, and the driven-circle
+    // angles do not describe it: a fixed-chi stage carries phi at a standing angle to the base with
+    // no chi circle to report, so "# Chi" reads zero while the axis is tens of degrees away.
     const Coord chi_axis(0.0f, 0.0f, -1.0f);
-    const Coord tilted = RotMatrix(rad(h.chi_deg.value_or(0.0)), chi_axis) * base;
+    const Coord tilted = h.inner_spindle_axis.has_value()
+                             ? ImgCIFToInternal(*h.inner_spindle_axis)
+                             : RotMatrix(rad(h.chi_deg.value_or(0.0)), chi_axis) * base;
     return RotMatrix(rad(h.omega_deg.value_or(0.0)), base) * tilted;
 }
 
diff --git a/reader/MiniCBF.cpp b/reader/MiniCBF.cpp
index 14d6b8208..3b4626b03 100644
--- a/reader/MiniCBF.cpp
+++ b/reader/MiniCBF.cpp
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ void ParseAxisTable(const std::string &text, Header &h) {
                 h.spindle_axis = v;
             else if (equipment == "detector")
                 h.detector_axis = v;
+        } else if ((type == "rotation") && (equipment == "goniometer")) {
+            h.inner_spindle_axis = v;   // carried by the base axis: a fixed-chi or kappa inclination
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/reader/MiniCBF.h b/reader/MiniCBF.h
index dd8cb92a1..9cb3fd96d 100644
--- a/reader/MiniCBF.h
+++ b/reader/MiniCBF.h
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ struct Header {
     std::optional<std::array<double, 3>> fast_direction;   // laboratory direction of a +1 column step
     std::optional<std::array<double, 3>> slow_direction;   // ... of a +1 row step
     std::optional<std::array<double, 3>> spindle_axis;     // the base goniometer rotation axis
+    // The goniometer rotation axis carried by the base one, stated in the base axis' own frame. A
+    // head whose inner circle is INCLINED - a fixed-chi stage, a kappa arm - says so only here: its
+    // "# Chi" and "# Kappa" lines read zero because no such circle is driven. Empty where the table
+    // states one rotation axis only, which is every Eulerian head.
+    std::optional<std::array<double, 3>> inner_spindle_axis;
     std::optional<std::array<double, 3>> detector_axis;    // the detector's own rotation axis: a 2theta arm
     // "# Oscillation_axis X.CW +SLOW". Some writers say which of the two image directions the spindle
     // runs along instead of stating a vector. The axis NAME on that line is a poor discriminator (see