General Chrome polishing process

Polishing is the most important part of the chrome plating process. This will determine how good the final outcome will be. The better the wheel is polished, the better the chrome plating will be. Small flaws can be corrected with the copper plating but a poorly polished wheel will lead to wavy or poor quality chrome.

The polishing process consists of various stages to get the wheel smoothed out all the way to a 400 grit finish. From this point they could be high polished to a mirror finish but this is not necessary for wheels that are going to be chrome plated.

The polishing process consists of:

Cutting the casting marks (orange peel) out of the wheels; This is done with a variety of tools including grinders and die grinders with different attachments for different areas of the wheels.

Sanding out the cut marks; The wheels will be sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the cut marks left behind from the grinders. This also helps blend any sharp edges left behind from the cutting tools.

They will be inspected several times during this first sanding stage for any orange peel or cut marks that may have been missed.

Final sanding; After the 220, they and sanded with 400 grit sandpaper and inspected a final time for any more flaws that may have been missed. This leaves the wheels smooth enough to come out with a bright mirror finish.

After the wheels are completed, they are signed and dated by the polisher that completed the wheel. This helps us keep up with any problems that may need to be corrected and in the case of warranty work, we know exactly when the wheel was done just incase you were to lose your receipt.