Rim Polishing

[GavinDavis]

I know this has probably been discussed a million times but wanted to know peoples experiences with polishing rims?

Ive got a set of standard Araya 48's that came off the Zippo that im building on my other thread.  They are the usual mid school silver anno finish.  Ive stripped the wheels down ready to rebuild them and freshen them up and I really fancy polishing them.

The polishing kits are pretty widely available and seems to work for a lot of people when polishing stems etc, does anyone have any experience of going to town on their hoops? 

[MaD-RoK]

ballache.com

[GavinDavis]

ballache.com

Lol, yeah I can imagine but its something I fancy doing.  Did you do the same?

[MaD-RoK]

Some people enjoy it, personally I would rather stick a red hot poker up my arse. You need to first strip the anno, then work down the grits of sandpaper finishing with the finest wet. Any raises and indents etc, like on 7X etc, and spoke holes are a pain, Pro class I believe are worth a Samaritan call. After all that you can then start with the readily available mops. 

[ozone]

I know this has probably been discussed a million times but wanted to know peoples experiences with polishing rims?

Ive got a set of standard Araya 48's that came off the Zippo that im building on my other thread.  They are the usual mid school silver anno finish.  Ive stripped the wheels down ready to rebuild them and freshen them up and I really fancy polishing them.

The polishing kits are pretty widely available and seems to work for a lot of people when polishing stems etc, does anyone have any experience of going to town on their hoops? 

I'd say leaving the original anno finish alone but rubbing down the sides of the rims to remove brake rub would be your best option and a lot less expensive...

[GavinDavis]

Cheers for the advice guys.  I didnt expect it to be a 5 minute job but i might try it out ona cheapo rims just to see if its worth doing, otherwish ill just build it back up nice and fresh

[Devilock]

[kungfunky]

^^^ ahhh the "unseen" pic of Pooch and Adam...

[In2 bmx]

   

[GavinDavis]

 

[BENDYCAT ELEVENTEEN]

^^^ ahhh the "unseen" pic of Pooch and Adam...

 

[GavinDavis]

lol....so has anyone got any pics of the finished product?  From anno to shiney

[Tidelander]

Here are a set of Peregrine 48s I did.  Hard work - you'll need a dremmel or a drill with polishing wheel and alloy polishing compounds - Something like this
http://www.powertoolsdirect.com/zenith-polishing-kit-ferrous-metal?utm_source=google&utm_medium=merchant

Before - ano was ok in most places but there were some nasty scratches so bit the bullet and did whole wheel



First sanding - using course paper to strip the ano and get bare metal


Sanded and ready for fine paper and wet and dry


Polish using the brown compound to flatten and then the blue compound to get a high shine and then polish with alloy polish to get rid of any compound residue - here is a side by side against the other ano rim



Hard work and you get covered in black shoite but worked for me

[GavinDavis]

Ah that looks awesome!!  Thats the finish im after with mine

Im thinking of gong down the "oven cleaner" route to strip the anno quicker, then going through a few grades of wet n dry, finishing off with the compound pastes.  Im gonna do the stem the same too

Did you lacquer the rims after or leave them for future polishing if they go dull?

[Tony1971]

I`ve stripped and polished a couple of sets. If they are for a rider they need to be laquered or re-anodised or the brakes realy dont bite.
Tony

[GavinDavis]

I`ve stripped and polished a couple of sets. If they are for a rider they need to be laquered or re-anodised or the brakes realy dont bite.
Tony

Cheers Tony, interesting to know mate

[oldtired]

you did quite well there    got 3 replies before the inevitable