Anyone have thoughts on how to get the blackening of the Treads and Flanges of the Blackened HO ribbed back Metal Wheels sets easily? I’m upgrading all wheels sets to them, and before I weather them, I’d like to clean to,treads to look shined and well used. Suggestions? Thanks, Mike
Well, it might seem obvious but 95% of mine are nice and shiny because, I run therm! I DO like the appearance once the blackening is worn off.
When I need to aggressively clean wheel treads I carefully use a brass wire brush on the tread chucked in a cordless Dremel motor running at the slowest speed available.
Dremel Brass Brush by Edmund, on Flickr
The soft brass wheels I use are good quality and are one-inch in diameter. Maybe Nylon would work OK, I don’t know but I wouldn’t use stainless for fear of it being too aggressive. Practice first!
One has to be careful with this method as one slip can damage end sill steps or underbody details.
Dremel Brush by Edmund, on Flickr
This cordless Dremel will be 20 years old next month! Original battery. Money well spent!
In reality, I’ve graduated to using more Intermountain and Exactrail wheelsets due to the metal axle and finer needlepoint giving me less rolling resistance. These wheels are turned alloy rather than the cast ‘pot metal’ of the Kadee wheel. However I still have several hundred Kadees still in service.
One thing about running off the oxide finish is that it doesn’t touch the flange or outer edge of the tread. In a way this is OK because it doesn’t reveal that your wheel width is a foot and a half in HO.
Kadee Wheel Tread by Edmund, on Flickr
Why not weather them first, then proceed to clean the tread?
Hope that helps, Ed
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