source for balsam?

N

newfilm

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So eh, I'm thinking to get some balsam for gluing lens (not wanting to use UV glue because if I screwed it up I can't find the needed chemical to un-glue it). But checking on the big auction site and some general googling around it seems that I can only find Balsam for Microscope slides, are they one of the same? Or does anyone has/know of a source preferably in europe? many thanks as always!
 
I don't think one of the tech people who work on lenses would mind telling you where they get their resin. They know if you mess it up, they will be your back up plan.
 
Check out the Large Format Forum. There are several guys recementing old lenses with excellent success. You'll probably find some good tips there and most are very happy to offer suggestions based on experience.
 
When I purchased my first microscope kit lo these many decades ago, it came with a little vial of a thick yellow amber fluid labeled Canada Balsam.
Take it for what it's worth.
 
I don't know much about using Canada Balsam for gluing photographic lenses, but many years ago I had used that for mounting microscope slides in my biology class. I still remember that with age, the balsam turned yellow. I didn't understand, and still don't understand, whether that was the result of the balsam being exposed to oxygen, or it is a natural yellowing process with age. so my thinking is, this might change the colour of photographic lenses when the balsam ages.

Tin
 
Funny. Yes its the same as the microscope mounting balsam. There are a few sources for balsam out there. I don't remember which I used, but I found it from helpful people at one of the photo forums (LUF is mostly likely). The online vendor who sold the balsam was (surprise) in Canada. They sold vials of balsam (ready for use cementing lenses) as well as chunks of raw balsam that were supposedly a great deal for people who recement thousands of lenses in a year :) My vial of about 10ml was more than enough for my one job recementing a LF lens. I suspect I could recement several more lenses of this size.

I always thought the balsam would yellow with age as well. Be assured its the same stuff that's been used in lenses produced by most of the world's manufacturers up until quite recently (1970s-1990s) when the modern cements became more mainstream. However, I think there are still lenses being produced with old fashioned balsam cement even today. It is comforting to know you can undo the job.

Ah, found the link for balsam:
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m3386.html

And the link for the UV cement I considered:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/lab-production/adhesives/norland-optical-adhesives/
 
I used the ebay stuff to cement my M2's beamsplitter back together - worked fine. the silvering on the other hand went terribly but that's a long story.
 
oh wow, thanks for the surplus links... hhhmm... 1/4 lbs (about 113g) for 25$, this stuff is not that cheap as I was lead to believe... I guess I'll go with the liquid for microscope slides and see how that turn out. many thanks guys!
 
newfilm said:
oh wow, thanks for the surplus links... hhhmm... 1/4 lbs (about 113g) for 25$, this stuff is not that cheap as I was lead to believe... I guess I'll go with the liquid for microscope slides and see how that turn out. many thanks guys!
Click to expand...

A quarter pound for $25 is dirt cheap. It's traditionally been a very expensive product to acquire until recent years when more affordable prices emerged from Eg. sellers on eBay. It was mostly sourced from specialist medical, laboratory or scientific suppliers at high standards of purity, with prices to match.
Eg: http://www.agarscientific.com/canada-balsam-in-xylene-100ml.html
Cheers,
Brett
 
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