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A fellow member asked if I could work any magic on a used set of tecnas. Well here are the hoops, before and after. They turned out decent.

Nice
The beauty of aluminum.

Man, someone actually sent you something R/C-related to finish?

Those look good! What steps were involved?

I imagine a lot of wet-sanding, rubbing compound & polishing. Nothing beats the classy glossy shine of polished aluminum.

LTO_Dave wrote:Those look good! What steps were involved?

well, first the lips on the rear outers had to be straightened. that consisted of setting them face down on a small anvil i have and tapping them around with a hammer. after that, i started with 180 grit to remove the gouges quickly. then stepped down from there. 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2500, 3000. i set the paper down on the counter top and ran the hoop over it in a circular motion keeping it flat. i had a new mothers mini powerball in the polish cabinet, so i cut it down to just fit inside the hoops. chucked it up in the drill and went to town.

the only thing i sanded was the outer lips. the rest of the hoops were decent, just oxidized. i did rub over those areas with some steel wool to help brighten it up before polishing though.

Steel wool (#000?) for oxidation you say? I'll have to try that as I have a pair of wheels with splotchy oxidation.

Those really came out nice! I tend to do mine the same way but I substitute scotchbrite pads for some steps, use a dremel with polishing compound and use Mother's mag polish on them whem I''m done.

Those came out really nice

Lowgear wrote:Steel wool (#000?) for oxidation you say? I'll have to try that as I have a pair of wheels with splotchy oxidation.

That's a recommendation I've heard often, to remove rust from chrome--but don't follow that recommendation. Don't use steel wool on chrome, even the #0000 stuff. It can make fine hazy scratches. For chrome, use wads of aluminum foil dipped in Coke and scrub it on. Sounds weird but it works. The foil is harder than the rust but softer than chrome, and the acid in the Coke in conjunction with the foil produces some kind of galvanic reaction that takes the rust off quicker than any other thing I've tried. I restored an English snare drum from the 80's this way and the results were amazing.

Never tried foil & Coke on aluminum, though...

For me, the use of steel wool on these wheels isnt a tip or trick. It was just there and I used it.

The key is to get the surface as smooth as possible before putting and polish to it. Once smooth used some cotton swabs with your polish to get a super high shine

only a year later , but the centers are finally re-anodized. they're not quite as dark in person as they are in the pic.

Just hope you remember my address

oh.... you moved back to NY?

What are you going to use them on?