What's the best way to clean mirrors

[Phredy1]

dangerous??

i dont think you will lose an eye or finger doing it!

I meant dangerous like in breaking a mirror off.

[andy_con]

I meant dangerous like in breaking a mirror off.

ive done loads of scanner mirrors and never had a problem

[stanwax]

the idea of peeling the tape and the polymer off along the axis of the shaft means there is minimal force involved plus the film will practically fall of if left long enough to cure. If you are careless of course you could do damge but you could if you were careless with any method.
Rob

[ElektroFreak]

Sounds interesting to me.. Is it safe for all coatings so that it can be used on lenses and cavity optics?

[andy_con]

sure is i use it on galvo mirrors, front surfaced mirrors and all dichros

[Doc]

The only thing to avoid is plastic lenses.

[badger1666]

well i had dichros come with that first contacted on them
and was a complete bastard to get the stuff off them
tried all sorts of tape gave up in the end and had flick the edge up with a scalpel and peel it off.
also if you want to clean your dichro's while they are in there mount's is just to dam awkward
i say stick to qtip and some isopropyl or acetone

[Lexat8]

Eveing All
Firstly, First Contact is an excellent product, but i have found a few issues when using:

cure time has to guestimated; if you don't leave it on long enough it doesn't come off in one peice. I re-coated the offending mirror and left it for 2 days before removing.

Tip: use the thinest caosting that you can, ( the brust is abit heavy, atleast for 5 x 10 mirrors ) and only use on optics that you have edge access (not mounted).

Otherwise it's great!

Lex

[andy_con]

i can honestly say ive used first contact loads and not had a single problem.

[LaserLover]

Hey all I know that this maybe a newbie question but I'm just wondering what people out there use to clean their mirrors. Gettin a little dirty hurting my output.

Thanks Kyle

Hi Kyle,

here are a few website that provide clear instructions on how to clean laser optics and even demo video at Coherent " http://www.coherent.com/Service/inde...page&PageID=39 " and Melles Griot " http://www.cvimellesgriot.com/produc...ng_methods.pdf "

One note of caution regarding cleaning Aluminum coated front surface mirrors, do not use any type alcohol as it reacts with Aluminum. If there is only dust to clean try acetone with the drop and drag method.
Here's another excellent article on cleaning optics " http://www.cvimellesgriot.com/produc...ningOptics.pdf "