Diamond Cut Wheel Repair Mobile across the North West

A diamond cut alloy wheel is one where the face has been machined on a lathe to expose polished aluminium, then sealed with clear lacquer. The rest of the wheel, usually the pockets between the spokes and often the inner barrel, is painted in a colour such as anthracite, gunmetal or gloss black, which gives the two tone look of a bright face against a dark background.

The finish is common on modern and higher specification cars, and there are a lot of variations. Some wheels are cut across the full face, some only to the outer half of the spoke, and the pitch of the machining differs between manufacturers. That is why the repair needs a lathe and a technician who has cut that style of wheel before, rather than a spray gun and a good eye.

The trade off is durability. Nothing sits between the lacquer and the metal, so stone chips, weathering and winter road salt take a diamond cut wheel apart far faster than they would a standard painted alloy.

The wheel comes off the car and goes onto a lathe, which takes a fine layer off the face and removes the kerb damage, the pitting and the old lacquer in one pass. That is the whole principle of the job. You cannot touch in a machined finish, so it has to be re-cut and the pattern restored right around the wheel.

Before the cut, damaged rim edges are dressed back and any corrosion is taken out, because lacquering over corrosion simply seals the problem in. On a full refurbishment the wheel is stripped first, a stage one powder coat is applied over the whole wheel and cured in the oven, and only then is a thin layer skimmed from the face so the machined finish sits on top of a properly sealed base.

Once the cut is right, clear lacquer goes on and the wheel is cured again. Curing matters more here than on a painted wheel, because that lacquer is the only thing keeping moisture off bare aluminium. Painted pockets and centres are matched to the manufacturer colour code at the same time, so the wheel goes back on the car looking like the other three.

No. Every cut takes a small amount of aluminium off the face, so a wheel that has already been machined several times, or one where corrosion has gone deep into the metal, reaches a point where removing more material is not sensible. At that stage the honest answer is to powder coat or paint the wheel rather than cut it again.

We will tell you when a wheel has got there instead of cutting it anyway. A powder coated finish on a wheel that started life diamond cut does look different, but it is tougher than the original lacquer, it can be matched across the whole set, and it costs a good deal less than a replacement wheel from a main dealer. Some wheels are simply too fragile to take another skim, and that is a straight recommendation to powder coat.

Buckles and cracks are a different question entirely. Those are structural rather than cosmetic, and a wheel with a crack through a spoke or across the mounting face should be replaced, not refinished.

• Kerb scuffs cut through the machined face
• Lacquer peel and cloudy corrosion under the clear coat
• Stone chips from motorway miles
• Pitting caused by winter road salt
• Faded or blistered painted pockets and centres
• Full sets refinished together so they match

Yes. We run a mobile diamond cut service, so in most cases the wheels are cut and refinished at your home or workplace and the car is back on the road the same day. The usual alternative is having the wheels boxed up and sent away to a refinisher, which takes the best part of a week and leaves you without the vehicle.

Some jobs still belong at Radcliffe. Anything that needs stripping back to bare metal, a stage one powder coat cured in the oven, or the tyre removing from the rim comes into the body shop. We collect and deliver for wheels that are not safe to drive on.

Weather sets the limit on mobile work. Lacquer will not cure properly in rain or in cold, damp conditions, and a diamond cut face that has been lacquered badly clouds over within months. We would rather move an appointment by a day than hand back a wheel that is going to fail in the spring.