CLEANING AFTER SEPARATION

The two component lenses (flint and crown) will look very messy after this separation. The small amount of balsam used is enough to create a very lumpy appearance. The cleaning may have two stage as there can be edge deposits which are not soluble. Using protective gloves, take the lens up and clean with xylene impregnated paper towels. The deposit does not come away from the surface easily and mechanical rubbing is necessary to get it on the paper. Throw away the papers quite quickly as you soon reach the stage where you put more back on than you remove with each stroke. The quality of the cleaning papers should increase as you get near the surface.

You may discover a whitish deposit at the very edge. I have no idea what this is (perhaps sugar?) but must be a result of the decomposition of the complex mixture which balsam is. To be honest, I loosened this with my finger nail edge.
I enclose photos which show the general appearance of the crown/flint set, both before and after cleaning. The white edge is also shown.

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