Tool and process for chrome plating a vehicle wheel surface

A process for forming a decorative surface upon an outboard surface of a wheel disc, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a cutting tool for smoothing a wheel surface that includes a rhombic shaped body portion having a mounting aperture formed therethrough and a crystalline insert carried upon one end of the body portion, the insert having arcuate leading and trailing edges, the insert also having a zero degree land formed thereabout whereby the cutting edge of the insert is maintained tangent to the wheel surface;
• (b) applying an electrically non-conductive material to a surface of a machined vehicle wheel that includes a wheel rim and has a wheel disc extending radially across the wheel rim;
• (c) mounting the machined vehicle wheel on a lathe;
• (d) rotating the wheel;
• (e) urging the cutting tool provided in step (a) with a uniform pressure against an outboard surface of the wheel disc and traversing the cutting tool in a radial direction across the outboard surface of the wheel disc such that a portion of the coating is removed and the portion of the wheel disc outboard surface from which the coating was removed is smoothed and has a polished appearance;
• and
• (f) chrome plating the wheel whereby the remaining coating prevents adhesion of the chrome plating chemicals such that only the portions smoothed in step (e) are chrome plated.

A process for forming a decorative surface upon an outboard surface of a wheel disc, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a cutting tool for smoothing a wheel surface that includes a rhombic shaped body portion having a mounting aperture formed therethrough and a crystalline insert carried upon one end of the body portion, the insert having arcuate leading and trailing edges, the leading edge having a leading edge radius and the trailing edge having a trailing edge radius with the leading edge radius being greater than the trailing edge radius, the insert also having a zero degree land formed thereabout whereby the cutting edge of the insert is maintained tangent to the wheel surface;
• (b) mounting a machined vehicle wheel including a wheel rim and having a wheel disc extending radially across the wheel rim on a lathe;
• (c) rotating the wheel;
• (d) urging the cutting tool provided in step (a) with a uniform pressure against an outboard surface of the wheel disc and traversing the cutting tool in a radial direction across the outboard surface of the wheel disc such that a portion of the wheel disc outboard surface is smoothed and has a polished appearance;
• (e) removing the wheel from the lathe;
• (f) applying an electrically non-conductive material to the portion of the wheel face surface that was not smoothed in step (g);
• and
• (g) chrome plating the wheel whereby the electrically non-conductive coating prevents adhesion of the chrome plating chemicals such that only the portions of the outboard wheel surface that were smoothed in step (d) are chrome plated.