# USAT Blackened wheels question



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

I've been replacing my USAT blackened wheels with polished wheels so the wheel treads have a shiny look to it. Other than the wheel tread I don't care what color the wheels are, they get weathered.

Replacing all of the wheels is getting a little expensive. So, I'm wondering is there a way to make the blackened wheel treads shiny?


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Run the cars on track! 



I.... knew.. you... knew [email protected]

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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

SD90WLMT said:


> Run the cars on track!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL  

Why do I feel like I've just had a blonde moment. Dirk now that I think of it, I only have one car that has blackened wheels. The wheel tread on that car has kind of a brass/gold hue to it. The coloring is also streaked a little. 

Wondering if I could take my Dremel with a fine sanding/polish bit and speed up the process and even the streaks out?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The chrome (or whatever it is) plating is on top of brass... you can continue removing the rest of it to get to all brass. (at least my wheels are brass)

If you want a silver look, you will need to get steel wheels I believe.

Regards, Greg

p.s. I am assuming you are talking rolling stock, not motive power, you did not specify.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Your correct Greg. Rolling stock wheels.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

By all means remove the flaking plating and your trains will run better. I find that on my USAT, often I get two groves in the wheels. These, as well as the other rough areas from arcing or ... fill with deposits that don't conduct, as least as well as the metal, and the train can develop a stutter.

When my wjheels get like this, I turn the engine over on the workstand and put power to the pins. You can use the skates, if they still exist, but they arc and get really hot.

I spin the wheels against an X-acto blade held at an angle to the spinning wheel such that it cuts into the metal. This "lathes" off the flaking plating and can polish out the rough areas and grooves restoring much better power pick-up to the wheels. You can see the carbon deposits coming off as a cloud of dust.

Afterwards, go over them with some alcohol.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Just not to impune the quality of USAT, on my Ultimate series of rolling stock, I have NEVER had the plating fail, i.e. flake... I have worn through it, but nothing like what I have experienced on other products, like Aristo's plating for example.

To clean treads, I use a small SS wire brush, the Dremel brand (much longer lasting than cheaper one), put it in my dremel, and run it at a slight angle on the tread. The wheel spins, and even with it spinning, I can see my progress easily.

I don't try to remove the plating, just smooth and clean.

I do spray the wire brush with brake cleaner to get any accumulated crud off it, normally only needed when cleaning very dirty wheels. Usually the high rpm of the dremel slings any oil and grease off automagically.

Greg


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

New word....!

"AUTO-MAGICALLY"....

.. sumbunny call websters...!!


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

Actually, an "old" word, but I guess new to you - Automagically


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

The only wheels I worry about are those that pickup power for motors and lights. I use a green Scotchbrite pad to buff my wheels. 

I think that the only plated wheels that had the plating peal off were the wheels on my Bachmann geared locomotives; Climax and Shay.

Many of my LGB engines have worn through the plating, it didn't fall off.

Chuck

Thinking back, the only wheels I clean are on engines.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

There are polishing rubber wheels that fit your dremel on a steel shaft. They will remove the tarnish without removing the plating. I believe your wheels are new.
Cratex is a brand name, but too aggressive in my opinion. Check on line discount jewelry supply for those. There are some that contain pumice as the abrasive, look for those.
http://www.riogrande.com/Product/AdvantEdge-Pumice-Wheels-Fine/332720?Pos=16

John


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

> Actually, an "old" word, but I guess new to you - Automagically


I clicked on the blue "automagically" and my IE gave me a practically all-white window, which crashed my computer and I had to re-boot. Maybe it's just me....

JackM

What was that cheesy TV commercial about? I remember it, but not what the product was.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

*appropriate, atavistic retort*



> Why do I feel like I've just had a blonde moment.


It's okay - us blondies don't mind.  

And, as a demonstration of my blondie IQ, I recall, with no outside help, that the TV commercial a few years back was a big guy who appeared when somebody's home computer crashed for the umpteenth time and he fixed it "automagically". (A magic star gleamed from his front tooth when he said the magic word....okay.....EVrybody!!!.....auto-MAGIC-a-ly.

Show biz, nonpareil.

JackM


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

So I took a Dremel wire wheel brush to a USAT blackened wheel this morning. Ran the brush at about 15,000 rpm

Here's the before photo:








Here's the after:








The wire wheel brush:








Side by side comparison with a silver plated wheel:








One can tell the difference, but when trains are running one probably won't notice the difference. Tonight I'll try to weather the blackened wheel and photograph it next to a weather silver plated wheel.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Jack, it's your computer, do some updates and cleaning:

http://www.elmassian.com/electronics-aamp-gadgets/computer-stuff-mainmenu-280

Greg


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Greg-

LOLOLOL I laughed so hard at the video on your website you provided the link for


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, I do try to put some humor in various places on my site.

I've also been chided for putting my opinions there, as opposed to dry hard cold facts only.

You gotta have some fun!


Regards, Greg


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Be careful using the wire brushes, though minute, they will leave dirt attracting scratches. The wheels I suggested will polish the color away and improve the surface.
John


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Hey John-

Thanks for the link on the polishing wheel, gonna order some. The blackened wheel I experimented with was a spare. Do you think the polishing wheel will take out the fine scratches from the wire brush?


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Yes but... be careful with the plating getting too thin.
I'd just take off the color...
Those are fine grit, look for a medium or coarse if you want to experiment. I have other wheels for stock removal, but this exercise was cosmetic.
John


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

There's pluses and minuses each way, you might get some scratches with a coarse wire wheel (I have not noticed it with the dremel), but the wire brush is flexible.

The rubber wheels are a finer compound (or can be bought as such), but they have no give, and you can grind a dent into a wheel with them...

So, be sure the wheels are turning nice and fast whichever method you use, let them stop and you can get an undesired result.

Greg


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Obviously you have not used the ones I listed... geesh they are a soft silicon rubber that gives, I used them to polish karat gold, no dents allowed!
They are safer than the wire brush.
25 years as a gold and silver smith in Laguna Beach Ca. That backs my word on these.... Also Rio Grande is a great company...
John


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Ordered the pumice wheels. $6 for a 10 pack. Hopefully will be here by the end of the week, will let tell what I learn.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

John you are right, by looking again (due to your admonishment) the silicon base would probably reduce the possibility of "dents" from over exuberance.

How long lasting are they? I would suspect that the softer compound would wear faster.

Do you have any rough count of how many wheels can be cleaned per pumice wheels? Since they come in a 10 pack, I was thinking they wear sort of quickly. At $6 a 10 pack they are clearly not expensive.

Any other recommendations? Are the coarser ones useful too?

Thanks,

Greg


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Because of the light pressure used, they last a long time. One has to think in polishing terms versus metal removal. The Black is usually a chemical reaction vs a thick coating. One could also use a felt wheel with some buffing compound... 
I dismissed Cratex (the stuff of Bright boy track cleaners) wheels in my first post because they are aggressive. 
I've not used them for this duty, because my SS track does it over time....
hint; carborundum wheels when worn out make great stones to true rubber abrasives and they are good to clean up diamond saw blades. The kid in lapidary used to make me truing blocks from old grinding wheels.
You can use sand paper to (lightly) clean the wheel if the black makes them gummy. I've also shaped wheels for special applications.
I hope this helps.
I keep a full array of the wheels, (I'm still a metal smith at heart) I like the 1" size. I have a Fordham Flex shaft. The motor hangs up and I only have to wrestle the light weight hand pieces. I have a jack-hammer hand piece that allows me to make working scale rivets! 
John


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes, it helps a lot John.

Actually my family was in lapidary, and even my last name means something in that world.

Yeah, cratex not great for this application. The wire brushes have done very well for me in a Dremel due to the fine wires, and keeping them at an angle has worked to remove bad plating, rust, and other accumulations although greasy wheels can build up a bit. The high speed of the Dremel, usually around 20,000 rpm does help keep the wires clean.

All that notwithstanding, the high speeds and pressure wear these out quickly, and they are about $5 each and only get about 4-6 cars done with each, so the costs add up.

I also hear you about small scratches, although nothing super visible, but they must be there.

Thanks for the tips will buy a bunch of these wheels and check them out.

Regards, Greg

p.s. "almas" is the root of my last name


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Yesterday I received the pumice wheels that John recommended. I ran the Dremel at 15,000 rpm and 20,000 rpm. The black stuff came off fairly well at first, but as the pumice wheel turned black it seemed not to work as well. It took longer than the wire wheel. The train wheel did get warm/hot to the touch.

John, can you recommend anything? Do I need to clean the pumice wheel as I'm using it? Any further tips for while doing this?

Here's some photos:

The left wheel was cleaned by the wire brush and the right wheel by the pumice wheel








Close up of the left wheel. Although not easy to see in the photo I could see small scratches.








Close up of the right wheel. Could not see scratches. The brass color looked like it had just been polished, similar to your car after being buffed.








Before/After of the pumice wheel. I didn't have time to pull my caliper out to measure the wheel, but I did overlay the used on top of the new, didn't notice any size change. If there is, it's very minor.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

See my post 3 entries above. I use cut up carborundum wheels to dress the wheel, steal an emery board (glue fine sand paper to a popsicle stick) from your SO, lightly dress to remove gunk. 
I run my wheels a lot slower, I think top speed of my Fordham is 1750 and I use a variable speed controller...
Practice and experiment ... 
John


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks John. Will give that a try.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Eric, let us know about slower speed operation. I suspect that I might be too impatient to run 10 times slower.

Are you using just the edge of the pumice wheel, or the side of it... I notice the "dirty part" seems to have permeated quite a bit in from the outside edge.

Greg


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Greg-

I used both the side and the edge. Will let you know about slower speed.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Finally got around to testing lower speeds. Slowest speed on my Dremel is 5000 rpm. To my laymens eye there was no difference between faster and slower speeds other than the time it took. The big thing I found is to clean the wheel every now and then. When I noticed no change happening I would stop, clean the wheel, and resume until I needed to clean again. For cleaning I used my Flexi-File X-fine board. Think of cleaning the wheel like the large eraser you had in grade school. When it got gunked up you'd rub it on the classroom carpet to clean it. After cleaning up four wheels, I now see the wheel has decreased just a little (probably more from cleaning it). The wheel still has a long way to go.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I'm glad they are working for you.

Those erasers? My pant leg did the cleaning.
John


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