diff --git a/src/components/colorbar/draw.js b/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
index b7eef65140c..c76324ca067 100644
--- a/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
+++ b/src/components/colorbar/draw.js
@@ -185,11 +185,10 @@ module.exports = function draw(gd, id) {
         }
 
         // Prepare the Plotly axis object
-        handleAxisDefaults(cbAxisIn, cbAxisOut, coerce, axisOptions);
+        handleAxisDefaults(cbAxisIn, cbAxisOut, coerce, axisOptions, fullLayout);
         handleAxisPositionDefaults(cbAxisIn, cbAxisOut, coerce, axisOptions);
 
         cbAxisOut._id = 'y' + id;
-        cbAxisOut._gd = gd;
 
         // position can't go in through supplyDefaults
         // because that restricts it to [0,1]
diff --git a/src/plot_api/plot_api.js b/src/plot_api/plot_api.js
index e805637d037..b8aad370b5a 100644
--- a/src/plot_api/plot_api.js
+++ b/src/plot_api/plot_api.js
@@ -133,12 +133,14 @@ Plotly.plot = function(gd, data, layout, config) {
 
     Plots.supplyDefaults(gd);
 
+    var fullLayout = gd._fullLayout;
+
     // Polar plots
     if(data && data[0] && data[0].r) return plotPolar(gd, data, layout);
 
     // so we don't try to re-call Plotly.plot from inside
     // legend and colorbar, if margins changed
-    gd._replotting = true;
+    fullLayout._replotting = true;
 
     // make or remake the framework if we need to
     if(graphWasEmpty) makePlotFramework(gd);
@@ -152,7 +154,6 @@ Plotly.plot = function(gd, data, layout, config) {
     // save initial axis range once per graph
     if(graphWasEmpty) Plotly.Axes.saveRangeInitial(gd);
 
-    var fullLayout = gd._fullLayout;
 
     // prepare the data and find the autorange
 
@@ -321,13 +322,13 @@ Plotly.plot = function(gd, data, layout, config) {
         Plots.addLinks(gd);
 
         // Mark the first render as complete
-        gd._replotting = false;
+        fullLayout._replotting = false;
 
         return Plots.previousPromises(gd);
     }
 
     // An initial paint must be completed before these components can be
-    // correctly sized and the whole plot re-margined. gd._replotting must
+    // correctly sized and the whole plot re-margined. fullLayout._replotting must
     // be set to false before these will work properly.
     function finalDraw() {
         Registry.getComponentMethod('shapes', 'draw')(gd);
diff --git a/src/plot_api/subroutines.js b/src/plot_api/subroutines.js
index c66c7e77216..48b4962bd07 100644
--- a/src/plot_api/subroutines.js
+++ b/src/plot_api/subroutines.js
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ exports.lsInner = function(gd) {
             xa = Plotly.Axes.getFromId(gd, subplot, 'x'),
             ya = Plotly.Axes.getFromId(gd, subplot, 'y');
 
-        xa.setScale(); // this may already be done... not sure
+        // reset scale in case the margins have changed
+        xa.setScale();
         ya.setScale();
 
         if(plotinfo.bg) {
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
index 1157b32169b..e77bc52831e 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/axes.js
@@ -328,14 +328,10 @@ axes.doAutoRange = function(ax) {
 
         // doAutoRange will get called on fullLayout,
         // but we want to report its results back to layout
-        var axIn = ax._gd.layout[ax._name];
 
-        if(!axIn) ax._gd.layout[ax._name] = axIn = {};
-
-        if(axIn !== ax) {
-            axIn.range = ax.range.slice();
-            axIn.autorange = ax.autorange;
-        }
+        var axIn = ax._input;
+        axIn.range = ax.range.slice();
+        axIn.autorange = ax.autorange;
     }
 };
 
@@ -1137,7 +1133,7 @@ axes.tickText = function(ax, x, hover) {
 };
 
 function tickTextObj(ax, x, text) {
-    var tf = ax.tickfont || ax._gd._fullLayout.font;
+    var tf = ax.tickfont || {};
 
     return {
         x: x,
@@ -1347,7 +1343,7 @@ function numFormat(v, ax, fmtoverride, hover) {
             if(dp) v = v.substr(0, dp + tickRound).replace(/\.?0+$/, '');
         }
         // insert appropriate decimal point and thousands separator
-        v = Lib.numSeparate(v, ax._gd._fullLayout.separators, separatethousands);
+        v = Lib.numSeparate(v, ax._separators, separatethousands);
     }
 
     // add exponent
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js b/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
index 0ab7517bd5c..1ed0a669392 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ var autoType = require('./axis_autotype');
  *  data: the plot data to use in choosing auto type
  *  bgColor: the plot background color, to calculate default gridline colors
  */
-module.exports = function handleAxisDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce, options) {
+module.exports = function handleAxisDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce, options, layoutOut) {
     var letter = options.letter,
         font = options.font || {},
         defaultTitle = 'Click to enter ' +
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ module.exports = function handleAxisDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce,
         handleCalendarDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, 'calendar', options.calendar);
     }
 
-    setConvert(containerOut);
+    setConvert(containerOut, layoutOut);
 
     var dfltColor = coerce('color');
     // if axis.color was provided, use it for fonts too; otherwise,
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/index.js b/src/plots/cartesian/index.js
index c50444ed68d..4c91f281e10 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/index.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/index.js
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
 var d3 = require('d3');
 var Lib = require('../../lib');
 var Plots = require('../plots');
-var Axes = require('./axes');
+
+var axisIds = require('./axis_ids');
 var constants = require('./constants');
 
 exports.name = 'cartesian';
@@ -166,7 +167,7 @@ exports.clean = function(newFullData, newFullLayout, oldFullData, oldFullLayout)
 
     if(hadCartesian && !hasCartesian) {
         var subplotLayers = oldFullLayout._cartesianlayer.selectAll('.subplot');
-        var axIds = Axes.listIds({ _fullLayout: oldFullLayout });
+        var axIds = axisIds.listIds({ _fullLayout: oldFullLayout });
 
         subplotLayers.call(purgeSubplotLayers, oldFullLayout);
         oldFullLayout._defs.selectAll('.axesclip').remove();
@@ -241,13 +242,13 @@ function makeSubplotData(gd) {
         // dimension that this one overlays to be an overlaid subplot,
         // the main plot must exist make sure we're not trying to
         // overlay on an axis that's already overlaying another
-        var xa2 = Axes.getFromId(gd, xa.overlaying) || xa;
+        var xa2 = axisIds.getFromId(gd, xa.overlaying) || xa;
         if(xa2 !== xa && xa2.overlaying) {
             xa2 = xa;
             xa.overlaying = false;
         }
 
-        var ya2 = Axes.getFromId(gd, ya.overlaying) || ya;
+        var ya2 = axisIds.getFromId(gd, ya.overlaying) || ya;
         if(ya2 !== ya && ya2.overlaying) {
             ya2 = ya;
             ya.overlaying = false;
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
index 3594499ffdc..6b6cb4ee3d0 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
@@ -115,17 +115,43 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
 
     var bgColor = Color.combine(plot_bgcolor, layoutOut.paper_bgcolor);
 
-    var axLayoutIn, axLayoutOut;
+    var axName, axLayoutIn, axLayoutOut;
 
     function coerce(attr, dflt) {
         return Lib.coerce(axLayoutIn, axLayoutOut, layoutAttributes, attr, dflt);
     }
 
-    axesList.forEach(function(axName) {
-        var axLetter = axName.charAt(0);
+    function getCounterAxes(axLetter) {
+        var list = {x: yaList, y: xaList}[axLetter];
+        return Lib.simpleMap(list, axisIds.name2id);
+    }
+
+    function getOverlayableAxes(axLetter, axName) {
+        var list = {x: xaList, y: yaList}[axLetter];
+        var out = [];
 
-        axLayoutIn = layoutIn[axName] || {};
-        axLayoutOut = {};
+        for(var j = 0; j < list.length; j++) {
+            var axName2 = list[j];
+
+            if(axName2 !== axName && !(layoutIn[axName2] || {}).overlaying) {
+                out.push(axisIds.name2id(axName2));
+            }
+        }
+
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    for(i = 0; i < axesList.length; i++) {
+        axName = axesList[i];
+
+        if(!Lib.isPlainObject(layoutIn[axName])) {
+            layoutIn[axName] = {};
+        }
+
+        axLayoutIn = layoutIn[axName];
+        axLayoutOut = layoutOut[axName] = {};
+
+        var axLetter = axName.charAt(0);
 
         var defaultOptions = {
             letter: axLetter,
@@ -142,29 +168,21 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
 
         var positioningOptions = {
             letter: axLetter,
-            counterAxes: {x: yaList, y: xaList}[axLetter].map(axisIds.name2id),
-            overlayableAxes: {x: xaList, y: yaList}[axLetter].filter(function(axName2) {
-                return axName2 !== axName && !(layoutIn[axName2] || {}).overlaying;
-            }).map(axisIds.name2id)
+            counterAxes: getCounterAxes(axLetter),
+            overlayableAxes: getOverlayableAxes(axLetter, axName)
         };
 
         handlePositionDefaults(axLayoutIn, axLayoutOut, coerce, positioningOptions);
 
-        layoutOut[axName] = axLayoutOut;
-
-        // so we don't have to repeat autotype unnecessarily,
-        // copy an autotype back to layoutIn
-        if(!layoutIn[axName] && axLayoutIn.type !== '-') {
-            layoutIn[axName] = {type: axLayoutIn.type};
-        }
-
-    });
+        axLayoutOut._input = axLayoutIn;
+    }
 
     // quick second pass for range slider and selector defaults
     var rangeSliderDefaults = Registry.getComponentMethod('rangeslider', 'handleDefaults'),
         rangeSelectorDefaults = Registry.getComponentMethod('rangeselector', 'handleDefaults');
 
-    xaList.forEach(function(axName) {
+    for(i = 0; i < xaList.length; i++) {
+        axName = xaList[i];
         axLayoutIn = layoutIn[axName];
         axLayoutOut = layoutOut[axName];
 
@@ -181,9 +199,10 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
         }
 
         coerce('fixedrange');
-    });
+    }
 
-    yaList.forEach(function(axName) {
+    for(i = 0; i < yaList.length; i++) {
+        axName = yaList[i];
         axLayoutIn = layoutIn[axName];
         axLayoutOut = layoutOut[axName];
 
@@ -196,5 +215,5 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
         );
 
         coerce('fixedrange', fixedRangeDflt);
-    });
+    }
 };
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/set_convert.js b/src/plots/cartesian/set_convert.js
index e6036bd8ef9..903864504e8 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/set_convert.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/set_convert.js
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ function num(v) {
  * also clears the autorange bounds ._min and ._max
  * and the autotick constraints ._minDtick, ._forceTick0
  */
-module.exports = function setConvert(ax) {
+module.exports = function setConvert(ax, fullLayout) {
+    fullLayout = fullLayout || {};
 
     // clipMult: how many axis lengths past the edge do we render?
     // for panning, 1-2 would suffice, but for zooming more is nice.
@@ -319,7 +320,7 @@ module.exports = function setConvert(ax) {
 
     // set scaling to pixels
     ax.setScale = function(usePrivateRange) {
-        var gs = ax._gd._fullLayout._size,
+        var gs = fullLayout._size,
             axLetter = ax._id.charAt(0);
 
         // TODO cleaner way to handle this case
@@ -328,7 +329,7 @@ module.exports = function setConvert(ax) {
         // make sure we have a domain (pull it in from the axis
         // this one is overlaying if necessary)
         if(ax.overlaying) {
-            var ax2 = axisIds.getFromId(ax._gd, ax.overlaying);
+            var ax2 = axisIds.getFromId({ _fullLayout: fullLayout }, ax.overlaying);
             ax.domain = ax2.domain;
         }
 
@@ -360,7 +361,7 @@ module.exports = function setConvert(ax) {
             Lib.notifier(
                 'Something went wrong with axis scaling',
                 'long');
-            ax._gd._replotting = false;
+            fullLayout._replotting = false;
             throw new Error('axis scaling');
         }
     };
@@ -417,6 +418,10 @@ module.exports = function setConvert(ax) {
     ax._min = [];
     ax._max = [];
 
+    // copy ref to fullLayout.separators so that
+    // methods in Axes can use it w/o having to pass fullLayout
+    ax._separators = fullLayout.separators;
+
     // and for bar charts and box plots: reset forced minimum tick spacing
     delete ax._minDtick;
     delete ax._forceTick0;
diff --git a/src/plots/geo/geo.js b/src/plots/geo/geo.js
index 72f5b016b7d..56dd3ce42cc 100644
--- a/src/plots/geo/geo.js
+++ b/src/plots/geo/geo.js
@@ -465,10 +465,9 @@ function createMockAxis(fullLayout) {
     var mockAxis = {
         type: 'linear',
         showexponent: 'all',
-        exponentformat: Axes.layoutAttributes.exponentformat.dflt,
-        _gd: { _fullLayout: fullLayout }
+        exponentformat: Axes.layoutAttributes.exponentformat.dflt
     };
 
-    Axes.setConvert(mockAxis);
+    Axes.setConvert(mockAxis, fullLayout);
     return mockAxis;
 }
diff --git a/src/plots/gl3d/index.js b/src/plots/gl3d/index.js
index 6e42343abc0..66cc89996fc 100644
--- a/src/plots/gl3d/index.js
+++ b/src/plots/gl3d/index.js
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ var Plots = require('../plots');
 var Lib = require('../../lib');
 var xmlnsNamespaces = require('../../constants/xmlns_namespaces');
 
-var axesNames = ['xaxis', 'yaxis', 'zaxis'];
-
-
 exports.name = 'gl3d';
 
 exports.attr = 'scene';
@@ -45,8 +42,6 @@ exports.plot = function plotGl3d(gd) {
             scene = sceneLayout._scene;
 
         if(!scene) {
-            initAxes(gd, sceneLayout);
-
             scene = new Scene({
                 id: sceneId,
                 graphDiv: gd,
@@ -118,13 +113,3 @@ exports.cleanId = function cleanId(id) {
 
     return 'scene' + sceneNum;
 };
-
-exports.setConvert = require('./set_convert');
-
-function initAxes(gd, sceneLayout) {
-    for(var j = 0; j < 3; ++j) {
-        var axisName = axesNames[j];
-
-        sceneLayout[axisName]._gd = gd;
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/plots/gl3d/scene.js b/src/plots/gl3d/scene.js
index 013075e5e64..0373a665a19 100644
--- a/src/plots/gl3d/scene.js
+++ b/src/plots/gl3d/scene.js
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ var showNoWebGlMsg = require('../../lib/show_no_webgl_msg');
 
 var createCamera = require('./camera');
 var project = require('./project');
-var setConvert = require('./set_convert');
 var createAxesOptions = require('./layout/convert');
 var createSpikeOptions = require('./layout/spikes');
 var computeTickMarks = require('./layout/tick_marks');
@@ -339,6 +338,7 @@ proto.plot = function(sceneData, fullLayout, layout) {
     this.glplot.snapToData = true;
 
     // Update layout
+    this.fullLayout = fullLayout;
     this.fullSceneLayout = fullSceneLayout;
 
     this.glplotLayout = fullSceneLayout;
@@ -353,10 +353,7 @@ proto.plot = function(sceneData, fullLayout, layout) {
     this.glplot.update({});
 
     // Update axes functions BEFORE updating traces
-    for(i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
-        axis = fullSceneLayout[axisProperties[i]];
-        setConvert(axis);
-    }
+    this.setConvert(axis);
 
     // Convert scene data
     if(!sceneData) sceneData = [];
@@ -708,4 +705,11 @@ proto.toImage = function(format) {
     return dataURL;
 };
 
+proto.setConvert = function() {
+    for(var i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
+        var ax = this.fullSceneLayout[axisProperties[i]];
+        Axes.setConvert(ax, this.fullLayout);
+    }
+};
+
 module.exports = Scene;
diff --git a/src/plots/gl3d/set_convert.js b/src/plots/gl3d/set_convert.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d19caa8f713..00000000000
--- a/src/plots/gl3d/set_convert.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-/**
-* Copyright 2012-2017, Plotly, Inc.
-* All rights reserved.
-*
-* This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
-* LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
-*/
-
-
-'use strict';
-
-var Lib = require('../../lib');
-var Axes = require('../cartesian/axes');
-
-
-module.exports = function setConvert(containerOut) {
-    Axes.setConvert(containerOut);
-    containerOut.setScale = Lib.noop;
-};
diff --git a/src/plots/plots.js b/src/plots/plots.js
index cd5ca7a212d..87fb69e66b2 100644
--- a/src/plots/plots.js
+++ b/src/plots/plots.js
@@ -491,12 +491,10 @@ plots.supplyDefaults = function(gd) {
     // TODO may return a promise
     plots.doAutoMargin(gd);
 
-    // can't quite figure out how to get rid of this... each axis needs
-    // a reference back to the DOM object for just a few purposes
+    // set scale after auto margin routine
     var axList = Plotly.Axes.list(gd);
     for(i = 0; i < axList.length; i++) {
         var ax = axList[i];
-        ax._gd = gd;
         ax.setScale();
     }
 
@@ -1127,7 +1125,6 @@ plots.purge = function(gd) {
     delete gd._testref;
     delete gd._promises;
     delete gd._redrawTimer;
-    delete gd._replotting;
     delete gd.firstscatter;
     delete gd.hmlumcount;
     delete gd.hmpixcount;
@@ -1208,7 +1205,7 @@ plots.autoMargin = function(gd, id, o) {
             };
         }
 
-        if(!gd._replotting) plots.doAutoMargin(gd);
+        if(!fullLayout._replotting) plots.doAutoMargin(gd);
     }
 };
 
@@ -1301,7 +1298,7 @@ plots.doAutoMargin = function(gd) {
     gs.h = Math.round(fullLayout.height) - gs.t - gs.b;
 
     // if things changed and we're not already redrawing, trigger a redraw
-    if(!gd._replotting && oldmargins !== '{}' &&
+    if(!fullLayout._replotting && oldmargins !== '{}' &&
             oldmargins !== JSON.stringify(fullLayout._size)) {
         return Plotly.plot(gd);
     }
diff --git a/src/plots/ternary/ternary.js b/src/plots/ternary/ternary.js
index 547e427af99..2c53f6f4a17 100644
--- a/src/plots/ternary/ternary.js
+++ b/src/plots/ternary/ternary.js
@@ -176,10 +176,9 @@ proto.adjustLayout = function(ternaryLayout, graphSize) {
             xDomainCenter - xDomainFinal / 2,
             xDomainCenter + xDomainFinal / 2
         ],
-        _id: 'x',
-        _gd: _this.graphDiv
+        _id: 'x'
     };
-    setConvert(_this.xaxis);
+    setConvert(_this.xaxis, _this.graphDiv._fullLayout);
     _this.xaxis.setScale();
 
     _this.yaxis = {
@@ -189,10 +188,9 @@ proto.adjustLayout = function(ternaryLayout, graphSize) {
             yDomainCenter - yDomainFinal / 2,
             yDomainCenter + yDomainFinal / 2
         ],
-        _id: 'y',
-        _gd: _this.graphDiv
+        _id: 'y'
     };
-    setConvert(_this.yaxis);
+    setConvert(_this.yaxis, _this.graphDiv._fullLayout);
     _this.yaxis.setScale();
 
     // set up the modified axes for tick drawing
@@ -212,12 +210,12 @@ proto.adjustLayout = function(ternaryLayout, graphSize) {
         _axislayer: _this.layers.aaxis,
         _gridlayer: _this.layers.agrid,
         _pos: 0, // _this.xaxis.domain[0] * graphSize.w,
-        _gd: _this.graphDiv,
         _id: 'y',
         _length: w,
         _gridpath: 'M0,0l' + h + ',-' + (w / 2)
     });
-    setConvert(aaxis);
+    setConvert(aaxis, _this.graphDiv._fullLayout);
+    aaxis.setScale();
 
     // baxis goes across the bottom (backward). We can set it up as an x axis
     // without any enclosing transformation.
@@ -230,12 +228,12 @@ proto.adjustLayout = function(ternaryLayout, graphSize) {
         _gridlayer: _this.layers.bgrid,
         _counteraxis: _this.aaxis,
         _pos: 0, // (1 - yDomain0) * graphSize.h,
-        _gd: _this.graphDiv,
         _id: 'x',
         _length: w,
         _gridpath: 'M0,0l-' + (w / 2) + ',-' + h
     });
-    setConvert(baxis);
+    setConvert(baxis, _this.graphDiv._fullLayout);
+    baxis.setScale();
     aaxis._counteraxis = baxis;
 
     // caxis goes down the right side. Set it up as a y axis, with
@@ -250,12 +248,12 @@ proto.adjustLayout = function(ternaryLayout, graphSize) {
         _gridlayer: _this.layers.cgrid,
         _counteraxis: _this.baxis,
         _pos: 0, // _this.xaxis.domain[1] * graphSize.w,
-        _gd: _this.graphDiv,
         _id: 'y',
         _length: w,
         _gridpath: 'M0,0l-' + h + ',' + (w / 2)
     });
-    setConvert(caxis);
+    setConvert(caxis, _this.graphDiv._fullLayout);
+    caxis.setScale();
 
     var triangleClip = 'M' + x0 + ',' + (y0 + h) + 'h' + w + 'l-' + (w / 2) + ',-' + h + 'Z';
     _this.clipDef.select('path').attr('d', triangleClip);
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
index 656a3284135..6f82ef2b067 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
@@ -1485,9 +1485,8 @@ describe('Test axes', function() {
 
     describe('calcTicks and tickText', function() {
         function mockCalc(ax) {
-            Axes.setConvert(ax);
             ax.tickfont = {};
-            ax._gd = {_fullLayout: {separators: '.,'}};
+            Axes.setConvert(ax, {separators: '.,'});
             return Axes.calcTicks(ax).map(function(v) { return v.text; });
         }
 
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/plots_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/plots_test.js
index 0e702ec5b89..b2bd10f5cca 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/plots_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/plots_test.js
@@ -418,7 +418,6 @@ describe('Test Plots', function() {
             expect(gd._testref).toBeUndefined();
             expect(gd._promises).toBeUndefined();
             expect(gd._redrawTimer).toBeUndefined();
-            expect(gd._replotting).toBeUndefined();
             expect(gd.firstscatter).toBeUndefined();
             expect(gd.hmlumcount).toBeUndefined();
             expect(gd.hmpixcount).toBeUndefined();