Originally posted by UncleVanya Quote: I've also experimented with electroplating, but... realised something pretty quickly... You can't electroplate an insulative surface - which is precisely what we are trying to change by electroplating in the first place!
I wondered about that... But I figured you had some new method I didn't understand!
I
believe it'd be possible using a higher plating voltage or a chemical deposition method. I know you can plate phosphate-anodised aluminium (but that has a
much thinner surface oxide layer). However, I do wonder... see, the anodised aluminium layer is porous - so it may be possible to absorb an electrolyte into that and then start the electroplating process off with that.
A chemical deposition or electroless plating method would probably be more reliable though, with less chance of accidentally arcing on, near, or across a lens element and covering it in carbon!
It also occured to me that instead of hand-cutting shimming material (though that is also pretty easy!) I could simply get a shim manufacturer to laser cut a small batch of them - they're not terribly costly!