Unpolishing aluminum wheel

[CG]

Not sure where else to ask this on the board, if it needs to be moved I get it.

So I have a nice set of the American Racing 200S wheels with polished rim and as cast grey spokes. Love them.

I also have a set of all aluminum ones with the rims and spokes polished. Id like to know if maybe having the spokes sand blasted would be an ok Idea to get them back to the roughish finish so they could be painted grey like my other set?

This is the look Im going for ...

[Overdriven]

Media blasting is probably about the best way to rough up the finish. You're probably going to have to experiment with different media to get the exact look you want though. Personally I wouldn't start with something coarse like sand. Baking soda probably isn't coarse enough, glass bead would be coarser and where I'd probably start, sand being even coarser.

The hard part would be not doing it to the outer rim. You'd have to tape up the rim really good to make a dividing line and be careful the angle you use near the tape.

[CG]

Yeah I figured Id have to do the taping myself to make sure it was how I wanted it. Not something Id trust the blasters to do. I don't really know though how much nozzle control they have, because no mater how great I tape it up the blasters could just blow right through it.

[Grumpy old man]

I use a media blaster to take down door jams and dash boards with all the nooks and crannies to bare metal by reducing the pressure to 80 lbs so I don't get any distortion and more control over flow , it takes longer but works great and I've used this method on all the hard to strip areas ( window frames ,drip rails ,cowl panels , inner fenders ,underside of the hood) some strip companies run up to 175 lbs and ruin body panels ..

[special-K]

You'll want to glass bead those for the right texture...and not lose a whole lot of material.

[Overdriven]

I assumed you'd be doing it yourself. I'm not sure I'd trust someone else to do it. Just blowing through the tape, not maintaining a decent edge would be a worry. But I'd also be worried they'd just hit it too hard, introducing too much heat or not getting an even texture. Nothing worse than paying someone else to screw something up for you.

[CG]

Im not able to do it myself, but I do have a place ive used a lot over the years. Just hard for me to get up there when they are open so I can ask them about this. Closed weekends.

[30 a truck]

I have been sand blasting stainless cups for my Daughter. She tapes a design on it, then I sandblast the design. I thought it would be easy to blow through the tape also. Turns out it is kinda hard. The only problem is, make sure all edges are sealed correctly. I am using a cabinet with about 115 lbs. pressure.

[piecesparts]

I have a friend at a little hotrod shop in Emporia, Kansas, that did just that. They taped of a set of wheels and sandblasted the spokes on his truck. The wheels looked great.