Uhm...the plating of high end forks is Ti-Nitride. Search Ohlins. And it is used quite abundantly on road forks on most recent street bikes like Ducatis. Even some High end DH mountain bikes use it. Anodizing would be WAY too porous to hold back oil from leaking in fork seals. I had a connection a few years ago that had his MX forks redone in it somewhere in Ontario, but lost the info.
ATR - Bolts, barrels (handgun), and such was exactly what I was thinking of. If it may be too thick though, it may prove to be problematic. It was a thought though. Maybe TiNVC is the process I am thinking of, that they use? I know Ohlins fork tolerances are very tight as well...they have to be to win races.