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When I was working in a powder-coat plant, the peak temp in the oven was 450 F, took about 20 minutes for the trim parts to run around the horseshoe-shaped conveyor track in the oven. Gave enough time to get the substrate heated up to temperature. If the surface of the powder fuses but the metal underneath isn't up to temperature, the stuff just peels off. Powder coating is great for aluminum, not so hot for steel. The reason being that there are always pores for moisture to get through, when rust starts, there's no way to get at it. So the coating bubbles, delaminates and generally looks doggy. Only way to fix it is to strip the whole coating off, treat the rust and recoat. Same deal with abrasion damage, something likely with a bike, no touchups.

Two-part urethanes are commonly used for auto paints, I can get pints from the local distributor. NAPA also carries some stuff. The deal with those is that you have to buy ALL the bits and pieces needed from the same outfit, auto paints are typically systems. So you have to buy paint and hardener, diluent, primer and maybe clearcoat if used, all from the same company. It all adds up. Accurate measuring and mixing is a must, too. Upside is that all you need is a spray gun, no furnace. The overspray isn't good to breathe, so some sort of mask with filtering is needed. With the system I last used, by the time all the stuff was added, that pint eventually became close to a gallon of ready to spray solution.

Stan

Here's a link to some tough two-part finishes in smaller quantities:

I intend using this stuff to finish a dot sight mount for a target pistol. Somebody carved it out of billet aluminum but just left it raw. It bugs me, can't stand focusing on the silver mount when it should be the black dot sight tube.

Stan

The problem here is that the 2 part polyurethane are generally used to paint boats. The auto body shops don't seem to use it. The boat paint shops stock in one gallon cans. One "set" gets you about a gallon and a pint.

I had talked to a couple of the better boat paint places to see whether they had some left over's that I could get and Yes they do.... White? I wanted yellow and black. Thus the powder coating idea.

As for rust, I treated the frame with phosphoric acid before they bead blasted it and hopefully there isn't any rust in cracks and crevices - hopefully.

The problem with me buying from the U.S. is the shipping. most places ship by DHL or other courier company and I don't blame them. Just package it and leave it on the loading dock. DHL comes by every morning and picks it up and you can forget it. But the courier companies charge an arm and a leg. shipping, customs, handling fee, delivery fee. It is nearly always cheaper to buy locally, if possible.

What kind of target pistol, if I might ask?