how do i make used billet wheels look like new ?

[Sledroll]

I have a used set of 6 tuning fork billet wheels that I want to put on my new sled , but they look worn .
How , or who , can make them look new ?

 

[Sasquatch]

How bad are they? Aluminum wheel cleaners do wonders as doe smothers aluminum polish.

 

[yamahamm]

polish and maybe sand them down first if there is ugly marks on them.

 

[TOMBOB]

Get a Mothers buffing wheel mine looked like new

 

[Sledroll]

polish and maybe sand them down first if there is ugly marks on them.

There are scratches and gouges ! Polish cant fix those marks .

 

[Sasquatch]

There are scratches and gouges ! Polish cant fix those marks .

Hard to make them like new then!

 

[TOMBOB]

Even if you fix the gouges they will be back. Live with it

 

[Teamblue4]

Portyamaha has a sale on new ones.

 

[nydiver]

Anything can be repaired, but at what cost? Scratches can be blended out with a bench grinder sisal wheel and some rubbing compound normally, but gouges usually require greaseless grinding compounds and several wheels to first grind them down to smooth and then to blend out the grinding damages until you can get back to polish level. Unless you know what your doing, its far better to let someone else do it, or just buy new ones.

 

[Sledroll]

Thanks for the reply.
What kind of business would do what you describe ?
A machine shop ?

 

[Sasquatch]

Machine shop labor = 60 to a hundred bucks an hour. How much are new wheels worth? Your talking hours of work!

 

[Sledroll]

Machine shop labor = 60 to a hundred bucks an hour. How much are new wheels worth? Your talking hours of work!

The wheels were a gift from my son , and I may have a connection at a machine shop , to get them done for a song .

 

[nydiver]

Thanks for the reply.
What kind of business would do what you describe ?
A machine shop ?

Someone in the machine shop might be versed in polishing, but that is really the type of company who can fix them up. Your looking for a metal polishing or metal finishing guy. I learned my skills in a auto detail shop. We used to take customers oxidized, scratched, and superficially gouged wheels and restore them, sometimes taking brushed aluminum rims to highly polished, mirror level. Also I have seen places that do plating or chroming that will do it. They need a nice flat surface for the nickle plate so they're well versed in smoothing metal, its not much from there to highly polished for them or you could have them nickle plate them. If you hit the right guy he'll find your project cool and give you a really fair price, on a good day the guy might do you a solid just to see the final pics when you get them back on. Your project is pretty easy provided you don't have deep gouges (more than 3 thousandths) if they are deeper gouged then you might consider having them power coated "chrome" that would run around 50-60 bucks for all the wheels if you do all the prep (remove anything like bearings or retainers).

Good luck with them

 

[Sasquatch]

The wheels were a gift from my son , and I may have a connection at a machine shop , to get them done for a song .

Got er licked then!