diff --git a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/GL3DWidget.h b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/GL3DWidget.h
index 924d4b18011228c6416909caf1004a6518cabba1..ba0ca7ae2430e3dcdbf5378726f26d083f82a961 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/GL3DWidget.h
+++ b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/GL3DWidget.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ public:
   void saveToFile(const QString & filename);
   void getViewport(int& w,int& h){_viewport->getViewport(&w,&h);}
   RenderMode getRenderMode()const{return m_renderMode;}
+  bool areAxesOn()const{return m3DAxesShown;}
 
 signals:
   void actorsPicked(const std::set<QRgb>& );
diff --git a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindow.cpp b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindow.cpp
index 830796a5fede3ffb6a9282d8f0a61cef71af5d17..4c9b3bdedfbdacf7d297c0f71b3abbb0353c6178 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindow.cpp
+++ b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindow.cpp
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ void InstrumentWindow::tabChanged(int i)
     if (mInstrumentDisplay->getRenderMode() == GL3DWidget::FULL3D)
     {
       text = tr("Mouse Button: Left -- Rotation, Middle -- Zoom, Right -- Translate\nKeyboard: NumKeys -- Rotation, PageUp/Down -- Zoom, ArrowKeys -- Translate");
-      if( m_renderTab->areAxesOn() )
+      if( mInstrumentDisplay->areAxesOn() )
       {
         text += "\nAxes: X = Red; Y = Green; Z = Blue";
       }
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ void InstrumentWindow::setInfoText(const QString& text)
  // if(mInstrumentDisplay->getInteractionMode() == Instrument3DWidget::PickMode)
 	//{
  //   text = tr("Mouse Button: Left -- Rotation, Middle -- Zoom, Right -- Translate\nKeyboard: NumKeys -- Rotation, PageUp/Down -- Zoom, ArrowKeys -- Translate");
- //   if( m_renderTab->areAxesOn() )
+ //   if( mInstrumentDisplay->areAxesOn() )
  //   {
  //     text += "\nAxes: X = Red; Y = Green; Z = Blue";
  //   }
diff --git a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.cpp b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.cpp
index 9393a84442787d4ea22f0335d648bbbaefdfeba2..954b34d72d3de93d4ee6442a9435817e0569823a 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.cpp
+++ b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.cpp
@@ -228,7 +228,10 @@ void InstrumentWindowRenderTab::loadSettings(const QString& section)
   QSettings settings;
   settings.beginGroup(section);
   int show3daxes = settings.value("3DAxesShown", 1 ).toInt();
+  m_instrWindow->set3DAxesState(show3daxes != 0);
+  m_displayAxes->blockSignals(true);
   m_displayAxes->setChecked(show3daxes != 0);
+  m_displayAxes->blockSignals(false);
   settings.endGroup();
 }
 
@@ -275,7 +278,7 @@ void InstrumentWindowRenderTab::setAxis(const QString& axisNameArg)
 
 bool InstrumentWindowRenderTab::areAxesOn()const
 {
-  return m_displayAxes->isChecked();
+  return mInstrumentDisplay->areAxesOn();
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.h b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.h
index a2c76dd7d8a1183def5e2245623458cdd3a25ffc..455cdeed603cf18a35b34c28bbda0a5dbf79fb8e 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.h
+++ b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Mantid/InstrumentWidget/InstrumentWindowRenderTab.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ private:
   QAction *m_displayAxes;
   QAction *m_wireframe;
   QAction *m_lighting;
+
 };