Polishing the Bead of a Rim, How To?
Polishing the Bead of a Rim, How To? I have a set of 10-spoke SS wheels I am having powdercoated gunmetal but I want to have the bead of the rim polished. I want the look of the grand sport wheels where the bead is polished. How can I go about doing this? Will the best route be to find a machine shop to that can do this? Any help is appreciated.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: pa
Re: Polishing the Bead of a Rim, How To? jack up the rear, put stands under it for safety. set cruise at a slow speed. sand away with plenty of water and the wheel spinning, watch your fingers. 
remove front rims one at a time and swap with rear...
start with around 400 WET sandpaper and work your way upto 1500-2000 grit, then use compounds such as emory, tripoli etc for an awesome luster. check out my polishing on my bike www.geocities.com/raptorterry/page6.html
remove front rims one at a time and swap with rear...
start with around 400 WET sandpaper and work your way upto 1500-2000 grit, then use compounds such as emory, tripoli etc for an awesome luster. check out my polishing on my bike www.geocities.com/raptorterry/page6.html
Re: Polishing the Bead of a Rim, How To?
jack up the rear, put stands under it for safety. set cruise at a slow speed. sand away with plenty of water and the wheel spinning, watch your fingers.
remove front rims one at a time and swap with rear...
remove front rims one at a time and swap with rear...
Seriously though, i have polished aluminum pieces before, much like you did on your bike, but the bead of a rim is so small I think more precision is needed than just doing it by hand.
