diff --git a/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.cpp b/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.cpp
index 3531efa5d219ed7c85050d87f4a0660373f4975f..f12dd569a33eaa4b50517bc1abf6b3e43b9af0ac 100644
--- a/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.cpp
+++ b/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
 #include "Device/Coord/ICoordSystem.h"
 #include "Device/Data/Datafield.h"
 #include "Device/IO/ReadWriteINT.h"
-#include "GUI/Model/Device/InstrumentItems.h"
+#include "GUI/Support/XML/UtilXML.h"
+#include <sstream>
 
 namespace {
 namespace Tag {
@@ -31,7 +32,6 @@ const QString BaseData("BaseData");
 
 PointwiseAxisItem::PointwiseAxisItem(QObject* parent)
     : BasicAxisItem(parent)
-    , m_instrumentItem(nullptr)
     , m_nativeAxisUnits("nbins")
 {
 }
@@ -44,12 +44,6 @@ void PointwiseAxisItem::setAxisAndUnit(const IAxis& axis, const QString& units_l
     m_nativeAxisUnits = units_label;
 }
 
-void PointwiseAxisItem::setOwningInstrument(const InstrumentItem* instrument)
-{
-    // only specular instruments are relevant
-    m_instrumentItem = dynamic_cast<const SpecularInstrumentItem*>(instrument);
-}
-
 const IAxis* PointwiseAxisItem::axis() const
 {
     return m_axis.get();
diff --git a/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.h b/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.h
index 45dc1a44e8db07effe76d8ca9c764a4584fd3b24..b7787e2efe4a8919dd60e0ee1ef5d842bd9dffec 100644
--- a/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.h
+++ b/GUI/Model/Axis/PointwiseAxisItem.h
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 #include "GUI/Model/Axis/AxisItems.h"
 
 class ICoordSystem;
-class InstrumentItem;
-class SpecularInstrumentItem;
 
 //! Item for non-uniform axis with specified coordinates.
 class PointwiseAxisItem : public BasicAxisItem {
@@ -30,7 +28,6 @@ public:
 
     // setters, getters
     void setAxisAndUnit(const IAxis& axis, const QString& units_label);
-    void setOwningInstrument(const InstrumentItem* instrument);
 
     const IAxis* axis() const;
     QString nativeAxisUnits() const;
@@ -46,7 +43,6 @@ public:
     void readFrom(QXmlStreamReader* r) override;
 
 private:
-    const SpecularInstrumentItem* m_instrumentItem;
     std::unique_ptr<IAxis> m_axis;
     QString m_nativeAxisUnits;
 };
diff --git a/GUI/Model/Device/GrazingScanItem.cpp b/GUI/Model/Device/GrazingScanItem.cpp
index 59e9952df2d54ed5c800c196b5157c3e8a149545..864b0de3c432a6a7b324e472b7b19f8e3e69023b 100644
--- a/GUI/Model/Device/GrazingScanItem.cpp
+++ b/GUI/Model/Device/GrazingScanItem.cpp
@@ -136,7 +136,6 @@ void GrazingScanItem::readFrom(QXmlStreamReader* r)
             m_pointwiseAlphaAxis = std::make_unique<PointwiseAxisItem>();
             setAxisPresentationDefaults(m_pointwiseAlphaAxis.get());
             m_pointwiseAlphaAxis->readFrom(r);
-            m_pointwiseAlphaAxis->setOwningInstrument(m_owningInstrument);
             XML::gotoEndElementOfTag(r, tag);
 
         } else
@@ -194,7 +193,6 @@ void GrazingScanItem::initDiscreteAxis(const IAxis& axis, QString units)
 {
     if (!m_pointwiseAlphaAxis) {
         m_pointwiseAlphaAxis.reset(new PointwiseAxisItem());
-        m_pointwiseAlphaAxis->setOwningInstrument(m_owningInstrument);
         setAxisPresentationDefaults(m_pointwiseAlphaAxis.get());
     }