SO I don't know if this falls into paint and detail, or goes here, so if it get's moved, sorry for the extra work

So my question is this: Can I sandblast aluminum Rims? I know rough sand does a good damn job on steel, but i think it would chew the hell out of aluminum. So what is the best media, and does anyone have any tips/tricks that can make this smoother? I know glass blasting (beads) and even tree-hugging walnut can get the job done, but i have silica sand on hand, and don't relish the idea of sanding these rims down by hand....


was done with green scotchbrite and acetone. sucked too. half-hearted, and half-assed... but I want to do this right so I can rock some 265/70r16's before summer ends...

 

Silica sand would be fine, just don't breathe it! Sure you already knew that though. Are you planning on painting them after or polishing them?

 

painting or possibly powder coating...

i can get all 4 2 staged black for $145 total...

painting would just be standard wheel paint..

if they were going back on a Camaro then polished would look awesome, but for the blazer, not so much imho

 

Blasphemy! They look great polished! imo.
I would paint where the gold is black, and polish the rest.

 

gotta agree with this post!

 

hmmmmmmm
you are saying take a gold lined in black iroc and make it a black lined in polished aluminum rim....

that actually wouldn't look bad at all...

 

they would look nice black and polished or just black. guess it depends on how much elbow grease ya want to put in them. BTW if you powder coat them the super wet black looks really nice. they will be super glossy. i've seen the gloss and the super wet and they both look good though.

 

i was leaning toward a clear coated "Very Jet" black

 

As has been said, you will have no problems sand blasting the aluminum rims. Obviously you don't want to sit at one spot for too long and you do not want to get too close, but those are general sand blasting rules to follow.

I blasted (glass bead) a set of Intrepid rims that I was planning on polishing up when I owned an Intrepid:

I still have them sitting in my shed... Started to polish one of them and then sold the car. LOL

 

A visual