Computer Optics Inc. Return to Technical Library Introduction Reworking existing lenses is often seen as an attractive alternative to the manufacture of a brand new lens. At COI we have developed a set of informal guidelines that can help one to make this decision. The first order of determining if an optic can be refurbished is to determine what the customer wants the lens or optical system to do. While it may seem elemental, too often the customer wants the performance of the lens restored to that which it never achieved in the first place.
Optics seems to be treated as a form of generic scientific inheritance.
By the way in this article, I use the words repair and refurbishment interchangeably as well as lens and optic. Since an inordinate amount of engineering can be spent on an optical design review, the first order approach should be a limited evaluation. If the lens simply has a scratched front or rear element, then one needs to know if the lens can be disassembled without damage to the barrel or the element. As part of this individual element evaluation, at the same time data is collected on the radii and diameters to determine if there is existing tooling, test gauges etc, to remove the coating and resurface the elements. The spectral band for the coating must be determined.