Powdercoat recommendations?

[geniekid]

I'm about to start assembling my Mainline, but want to get the plate and bell powder coated.  I've done some googling for places that do small/personal project powder coating, but I imagine a lot of shops that are looking for that kind of business could easily fall through the cracks of a Google search.  Anyone have first-hand recommendations for a shop they were happy with for something similar?  I'm in Chicago, but don't mind shipping the parts elsewhere (preferable CONUS).

UPDATE (October 29th, 2018): 
I ended up using JTS Coatings & Cycles.  I just received the parts back today.  They charged me $50 for the whole job, which included painting both parts in RAL 6018 (a bright green), masking for the plate, and return shipping.  Including shipping to them, the whole thing cost me about $65.  It took 13 days to get my parts back after dropping them off at the post office.  They were quite responsive to my initial emails.  Given my inexperience, I don't have a good sense of what a *good* powder coat job looks like, but the quality of the job they did is good enough for me (see attachments) - I would not hesitate to use them in the future, especially given the quotes I received from other vendors.

Interestingly, they said the green I wanted would be the same cost as a black.  The other two vendors who responded to me all had higher prices for the green over the black.

[Paul Birkeland]

Crown Customs and Coatings and Powder Coating Specialists have good reviews in Chicago.  If you're just getting it done in black, you should get a really good deal (especially if you're not in a hurry).  If you want a custom color, you'll end up paying a bit more.

Getting the panel and the plate coated in black locally should cost about as much as the shipping would be to send them elsewhere.

[geniekid]

Thanks for the advice Paul!  I will be sure to ask about black vs custom colors when reaching out to shops.  I did not realize cost varied with color, although it makes sense.

As far as going local, I don't have a car so I'll probably have to pay for two-way shipping short of finding a shop in the city proper that does personal projects.  The cost of two-way shipping parts of this size don't bother me too much given how premium the Mainline is (if this was the Crack I'd just paint it myself).

If anyone else has personal recommendations, please share!

[Sugar Man]

Also remember that the powder coating will need to be scraped if you need a bare metal connection.

[geniekid]

Very good point.  I'm having them mask the underside of the plate.  As far as the Mainline is concerned, I believe this should be adequate based on the assembly manual and this thread.

[geniekid]

I have updated the OP to include my ultimate vendor choice and my resulting experience with them.  Hopefully this will help others who find this thread in the future.

[oguinn]

Awesome information. Where did you go to see samples of the powder coat colors and make your decision?

[geniekid]

I just asked them for a light/bright green and said I wasn't too picky about it.  Jake from JTS sent me an email with a photographed sample of the RAL 6018 asking if that was okay and I said yes.

No idea how things would have gone if I had had a more specific color in mind.  While I was reaching out to vendors I got the feeling - just speculating now - that each shop has their own approach to stocking colors and handling jobs that require color matching.

[Paul Birkeland]

I bet they had a can of that green powder sitting on a shelf somewhere that they had to get for someone else's job, and they were probably wondering what in the world they would ever do with the extra!  (Or they just happened to be processing that job when you contacted them, so they waited and shot your parts with the other order)

[HF9]

I'd love to see some pics!

When I initially needed powdercoating, I called around to a bunch of local places. I found a gent that runs a small shop locally that I drop by every year or so with a box of parts. I just pick from whatever colors he has on the shelf. His bread and butter is subcontracting for larger scale military contracts, but he'll also do motorcycle parts and various odd-jobs. I usually drop off 10-20 parts and it's $60-200 depending on how much stuff I bring along. Depending on the go-fer that handles the job, the paint job ranges from decent to excellent. That also includes the paint stripping if needed. As far as turn around, it could be 2 weeks or 2 months, totally up in the air. Sounds like the guys that handled your request are on top of their game and offered you a nice price.   

[geniekid]

I attached some pics to the OP.  I didn't know I was supposed to have bare metal around the holes for the bell, so I will have to do some manual filing/sanding before assembly (which might not happen for awhile due to RL stuff).

[HF9]

Looks great! Just a little work with a Dremel takes care of tasks like that in a jiffy.

[JamieMcC]

Looking good