Tool for polishing conventional and free-form optical surfaces

The invention relates to a tool (10) for polishing optical surfaces (21) comprising a rigid base (11) which has a spherical surface (14) which carries a resilient cushion (12) which has a polishing face (16), characterised in that the diameter of the rigid base (11) is between 50 and 65 mm, the radius of curvature of the spherical surface (14) is between 54 and 60 mm, the thickness of the resilient cushion (12) is between 13 and 16 mm and the resistance to compression of the resilient cushion (12) is substantially between 0.08 and 0.15 bar at 10% compression and substantially between 0.55 and 0.8 bar at 70% compression. The invention also relates to the use of such a tool for polishing an optical surface, particularly an ophthalmic lens, and more particularly a free-form lens.