Novel gel producing pad and improved method for surfacing and polishing lenses.

摘要

A surfacing pad (10) is produced by dispersing abrasive particles (17) in a flexible, water absorbent matrix (16) that is secured on a flexible, fabric substrate (14), which functions as a reservoir for a liquid. By applying to the pad (10) a small quantity of liquid sufficient to wet the matrix (16) and to saturate the substrate (14), it is possible by rubbing the surfaces of a workpiece and the wetted matrix (16) to create an abrasive surfacing gel between the workpiece and the pad (10) substrate, thus elimninating the need for directing a slurry or other liquid onto the workpiece during a surfacing operation.