(probably) stupid alloy wheel enquiry....

[Llewelyn_]

I have a set of these:



And would like to have them machine finished to look like this:



I know that is a truly rubbish pic but you get the idea, a kind of turned metal finish.

How is the best way to do it? Is there something majorly wrong with sticking the wheels on a lathe and very lightly cutting for instance .5mm< at a continual speed from the outside in?

Am I being stupid to think this is a simple way of doing it due to the very flat design?

If anyone can point me in the direction of a cheap way to achieve this look I would be eager to hear of it!

Cheers

[g40jon]

a big lathe will work. just remember the surface isnt totally flat so will take a bit of skill to do. as far as I'm aware pro refurbers who diamond cut wheels have the wheel profile programmed into a cnc machine. to do it manually would be more tricky

[tontoe]

Think what your trying to achieve is a machined finish ??!as you say they would need to be machined to achieve this finish e aint going to be cheap but something out of the norm maybe look at blasting this will give a different look

[Llewelyn_]

Cool - So you reckon any decent engineering workshop could do this then?

I imagine it would be tricky to be consistant doing it by hand!

[Llewelyn_]

Sorry I missed your post there, tontoe - Yes definitely a machined finish.... I can't really see what benefit shot blasting them would do other than if they were going to be powdercoated?

[V-Force]

It'd be pretty hard to get a consistent surface finish though with the slight curves on the face - if it was flat you'd be able to just do it with a slow feed on. That said, you might be able to get an experienced turner to do it by hand on a lathe, don't know if it's realistic though as a slightly too fast movement on the handle will give you a lip. Might be worth taking them to a machine shop and just asking, they'll be able to tell you if it can be done.

[Llewelyn_]

Cheers for the advice - I wasn't sure whether or not lathes these days has a kind of auto program feature or something which measured it all before cutting?

These guys seem quite cheap but they mention something about painting before cutting which I am struggling to fathom:

www.wheelrefurbishing.com/OLDSITE/pricelist.htm

[tontoe]

Sept 16, 2011 22:59:42 GMT Llewelyn_ said:

Sorry I missed your post there, tontoe - Yes definitely a machined finish.... I can't really see what benefit shot blasting them would do other than if they were going to be powdercoated?

Sorry shotblast was probably the wrong thing to say maybe media blast would give the semi flat bonaville look like the moon disks in the photo

[Llewelyn_]

Aha! Sounds like a cheaper option but I would love a diamond cut finish!

[V-Force]

As someone said - CNC lathes or milling machines would be able to do it I'm sure, could get expensive though

first reply was beaten by others as I was typing it :L

[tontoe]

Totally understand but a machined face would cost a bomb on a something thats not completely flat you would need a 3d drawing to do it in cad or an old school guy on a lathe

[Mystery Machine]

No you wouldn't. A lot of wheel refurbing companies will have the profile stored on their computer and could machine a perfect diamond cut profile with no bother at all.

[Ratdat]

Something like this is CNC only, not just because of the curvature but to get an even machined finish you would need the spindle speed to vary as you cut from the edge to the centre to keep the surface speed at the tool tip constant.
Spinning it up and getting on it with abrasives would give a satin finish but it would be hard to get it looking right out near the edge with all the holes there.

[Dez]

you can do it with a stick and grinding paste. its how they get the surface finish on moon discs, as they're spun.

[SeventyNine]

creating the profile wouldn't be too difficult. time is the key issue here so you'd be best off being friendly with someone with a CNC lathe.

[79cord]

I'm tempted to try for this finish as well, for one set of wheels that originally had a diamond cut / machined finish that was obliterated by previous owners damaging one (that I have replaced) and sanding off the original finish.. and another set of painted wheels.
Abrasives might give a spun finish but it wouldn't be nearly as spectacular as a proper machined finish with its tiny evenly spaced grooves.
On a flatter or evenly convex wheel face I was actually wondering about a finely toothed hacksaw blade to create the required grooves after mirror polishing the main face.

[Llewelyn_]

Sept 17, 2011 9:47:40 GMT Dez said:

you can do it with a stick and grinding paste. its how they get the surface finish on moon discs, as they're spun.

Can you explain a bit more about this please Dez?