Just wanted to come back and say thank you to everyone for your help. This was super educating and super useful. I wound up getting my LBS to mill the fork, which apparently is an insanely easy thing that I simply never came across in my googling.

Also, after a long conversation with two LBS guys, you can powder coat certain headsets, just with significant care, and it helps if it's a sealed bearing headset. I also asked about anodizing and the quote I got was so high, I actually started laughing and immediately had to apologize.

THANKS FORUM. Y'ALL GREAT!