I know drilling seems easy but when it comes to smaller components I can be klutzy. So easy to some, not necessarily easy to me. I can probably use a triple mcpb as a guide to help and I might actually try this but it’s definitely not “easy” to me and I have a high chance of screwing it up. However, I might end up trying this if I can’t figure any other way to remove the optic.
That’s fair enough, we all have different abilities (and tools :D), i picked up on the fact that you’re comfortable cutting a slot in the side of the optic which i wouldn’t have a clue how to do so just wanted to check you understood the suggestion, which you do 
Drilling into a 2 mm plastic leg sounds easy until you try to do it manually, because not everyone has a drill press…
Stoopit-Gloo, then. Teenytiny dot on the end of a wire, touched to the edge of the optic. Just enough to grab without needing to break it off when done.
Cyanoacrylate dissolves in AcMe, but careful not to get anywhere near the actual lens part, in case it might cloud the plastic. Or just shave off any residue vs chemical “cleaning”.
To remove Carclo triple optics I do the following:
- I use a small pick tool. Looks sorta like a dental pick with an angle and a point
- Insert the tool into the edge of the optic and lift. You won’t be able to get it underneath. That’s fine. The goal is to just dig the point into the side edge and lift. If it only goes up 1/4 of 1 mm that’s good enough.
- rotate the light a half cm and repeat. Walk the tool around the edges of the optic lifting each time.
Initially the optic will barely move. But once you walk it sufficiently far around the edge it should pop right out.
If that doesn’t work, try 3M rubber stairway grip tape. The rubber tape, not the silica tape. Works great for adding grip to just about anything and removes cleanly.
I don’t recommend using super glue. Super-glue is a form of acrylic and so are the optics. Any kind of contact with super-glue remover may damage or destroy them.