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blasting wheels

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by doubledawg, Apr 23, 2012.

  1. I have some crusty old aluminum wheels fresh out of the junkyard. I have a buddy with a large blasting cabinet that they will fit into. Can I use reg blasting sand to clean these up or will they be damaged if I don't use glass beads?
     
  2. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    It may give a rougher finish than you want. A 50 lb bag of glass beads isn't expensive and usually isn't that hard to find.

    If they are polished you might be better off to use something like Oil Eater to clean the grease and crud off them and then use a mag wheel cleaner and then polish them back to the shine you want.
     
  3. Thanks Mr. chev. the wheels actually have a rough cast finish. they are the alum cordoba wheels I was asking drive em about in my t bucket thread this weekend. thinking rough cast center with brushed or polished outer rim.
     
  4. CutawayAl
    Joined: Aug 3, 2009
    Posts: 2,144

    CutawayAl
    Member
    from MI

    Technique and blasting pressure are factors, but the roughness of the finish you get will depend mostly on the type and grit of blasting media.
     

  5. metalfaber
    Joined: Feb 2, 2011
    Posts: 218

    metalfaber
    Member
    from Nebraska

    I agree with whats been said already also, but to add to that, if you are using higher pressures (100 psi, give or take) and an aggressive abrasive (sand, aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, black beauty, etc) you will have a fun time trying to sand it smooth to polish the outer rim. Not impossible, but will take awhile.

    Combination of either a bead (non abrasive), lower pressures, or maybe just tape off and sand what you are going to polish, and blast what you are going to leave rough. If leaving it rough though, it is better to use a bead to peen it which seals the pores, instead of an abrasive that leaves the pores of the metal open and more prone to corrosion.

    Brian :)
     
  6. RagtopBuick66
    Joined: Dec 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,180

    RagtopBuick66
    Member

    Put duct tape over any surface you plan to polish. After you've put it through the blasting cabinet to clean up the rough cast surfaces, remove the duct tape and use steel wool with some Mother's Aluminum and Metal Polish on the (future) polished surface.

    Another little trick, which I used on an old set of Appliance Wire Mags on my OT '66, is to jack up the rear end of the car and put axle props under the rear axle. Mount the rims to the car, start it, and put it in reverse (lowest gear). Start with about a 400 grit paper, and hold it against the surface you want polished on the now spinning wheel. Once you see you've got a pretty even surface, move up to 800 grit and do the same thing. Then 1000 grit. Finish it off with 1500 grit and a good polish, and viola... polished mags.
     
  7. metalfaber
    Joined: Feb 2, 2011
    Posts: 218

    metalfaber
    Member
    from Nebraska

    LOL......Im sure it worked great.......thats funny though. :D

    Brian
     
  8. RagtopBuick66
    Joined: Dec 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,180

    RagtopBuick66
    Member

    LOL, dude, you don't even know! I had started working on them by hand, and said "Maaaan, fuck this. I'll be here all day doing ONE!" So I started researching online about how to do it quicker, and I kept finding threads about all these crazy setups guys had build in their garages to do this same thing. Belt-driven, interchangeable heads so you could go from a Chevy pattern to a Ford pattern, upright, horizontal, etc. But they all had one thing in common, they made the wheel spin. I figured, shit, I can do that! My car makes two spin at once! And I don't have to BUILD anything! Worked like a charm.

    Give it a try! I didn't have any help, so I just chanced it, but if you've got a buddy who is willing to hold a cold beer while covering the brake pedal while you do it, it might not be a bad idea. :D
     

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