Does anyone have any good tips on cleaning soldering flux (mostly rosin) residue from microscope objectives? Other than not getting it on them in the first place of course?
-- Andrew Smallshaw andrews@sdf.lonestar.org
As far as not getting it on there, perhaps you can mount some cheap filters in front of the lenses ?
Can you remove them (some of them "unscrew"). If so, some also are "disassemble-able" -- you can remove the lenses (and soak them).
As for the latter, I have a sheet of plastic beneath my stereoscope -- since even *fumes* can fog the lenses and plastic is easy to dispose of/replace.
Hi Don
Sorry for the delayed reply here - I can only assume slrn missed highlighting this for some reason. I probably _could_ remove the objectives but I really would rather not - they appear to be air-spaced doublets, and I'm not sure how much precision is needed come re-assembly - both the actual lenses and getting both sets properly collimated so that it doesn't induce immediate eyestrain.
I did look up what solvents there were for rosin and that basically means alcohol. I tried a cosmetics pad soaked in meths and that did a spectacular job of cleaning them up - back to as new condition.
Out of interest, what plastic are you using to shield your lenses? When that one was new I tried OHP film but found the loss of resolution to be unacceptable. I did consider trying a piece of Perspex, but when you start talking about something that needs more than a sharp knife to cut it seems a bit of work for something that is going to be thrown away on a regular basis.
-- Andrew Smallshaw andrews@sdf.lonestar.org
Understood.
The great thing about glass is how delightfully resistant to most solvents it is! I'd be more worried about the mounts and/or the possibility of leaving a residual film on the glass.
Most of the time, I use the stereoscope for *inspection* so no fear of getting crud on the objectives, etc.
When I need to do some touch-up work "under the glass", I just use "Saran Wrap" pulled taut up around the stereoscope's "head". When I'm done, I peel it off and discard it.
It has some minimal effect on the amount of light that passes through it. But, it is *so* thin (a few mils?) that the effect is tolerable (pulling it taut eliminates any "wrinkles" in the film). Note that the bottom of the stereoscope is essentially a large, flat surface (the optics don't "protrude" in the same way that they would on, for example, a "microscope") so the film can easily "conform".
Note, also, that the stereoscope works in the 7-30X range (not sure if you are operating at a higher level of magnification?)
It appears you are located in the England (?). As such, "Saran Wrap" (a recognizable "brand name" here... sort of like "Xerox" is to "photocopy") may not be meaningful. Competitors also call it "cling wrap". It comes in a roll ~12 in wide sold in grocery stores alongside aluminum (aluminium? :> ) foil, wax paper, etc. It is used to wrap sandwiches (for freshness), cover open bowls of foodstuffs while refrigerated, etc.
[i.e., I'm *sure* you know what this stuff is... I just don't know what you're likely to *call* it, over there. I mean, any place that would call an "EXIT" the "way out" is likely to call "cling wrap" something like "stretchy stuff"! ;-) ]Finally, note that this "stretchy stuff" really doesn't like heat so moving air is your friend (OTOH, if the stuff melts a little, you just peel it off and reapply new stuff).
HTH,
--don
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