- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 145
A very good and old method of cleaning mirrors, especially first surface mirrors is to use collodion.
So- just thought I would offer a "Poor Mans" version of Collodion- This is a parallel discussion in a Microscope forum I belong to- I would figure teh mirror has no AR or coatings so this may be a good test piece!
Here is the body of the text-
<<Figuring that I had little to lose testing with a simple microscope slide, I got a dirty microscope slide and wiped it off with my shirt, which left a nice oil film and some cotton debris. I painted some generic Walgreens Liquid Bandage on the slide and dabbed a small strip of mosquito netting into the goo to help lift it.
After the stuff* had dried, I lifted the tab of mosquito netting that I had left outside the puddle of goo (it was more viscous than I had expected) and it popped right off. I looked at the slide with only a stereo microscope but from all I could tell, the surface was pristine. All evidence of the oil smear and all particulate matter was gone in the area where the Liquid Bandage had been applied. I could see a very definite edge between where the puddle of Liquid Bandage had been and where it hadn't. The material came off so easily that I don't see adhesion to surface coatings being a problem. I can't vouch for the safety of any of the solvents involved though.
Any suggestions for a more stringent test?
* Acetone, amyl acetate, castor oil, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, and specially denatured alcohol (SD 40)>>
The reply was for our folks across the pond:
<<
Well done, a great test. The next step in more stringent testing would be, I think, to try it on antireflection-coated optics. Possibly not your finest planapo but maybe an old or scratched eyepiece.
In the UK I can find "Liquid Skin" which seems to be made of cyanoacrylate (superglue), so probably not at all the same as yours, and various very cheap preparations from China. Plus there is something called New Skin that seems to be American.
Then I found a home grown product (Germolene New Skin) containing
Ingredients
Ethyl Acetate
Alcohol Denat
Nitrocellulose
Ricinus Communis
Isopropyl Alcohol
Amyl Acetate
Isobutyl Alcohol
Camphor
Parfum (includes Benzyl Alcohol, Citronellol)
Would this be similar to what you use? It's £5 for 20ml so a no-brainer if it works. But it does contain castor oil (ricinus) which someone said was a no-no.>>
So- the consensus is to try it- As the working area of the mirror is central and projected onto a circle- And the Mirror itself is a SQUARE... I figure the edges are safe to "play" with and experiment!
The replacement used mirror runs about 350 USD- a bit steep for a home shop- but then again- Im hoping to invest in the equipment to be able to grow moving forward!
Hope this helps- I will post the results here and try to remember to put this in a WIP thread or tips/tricks forum as well- if it works... Im excited as I have rifle scopes, binoculars, prisms and a few other glass lenses/mirrors I desperately need to clean!
Thats all for now! The quest continues!