anyone ever do this? i know it can be done, and some polishing companies such as SM polishing offer this service. i have sanded my mani smooth, but think maybe the dimpled look would be cool. they say that its perfectly safe to have alum peened, and actually strengthens it. anyone have pics if they have gotten it or something on their car done? im thinking about buying my own small booth for other projects, only $60 from harbor freight. TIA!

its the same thing as sandblasting

no no, its not actually. sandblasting uses sand and has a tendency to heat up the metal, your NEVER supposed to sandblast aluminum. beading/peening you use alum oxide, nylon, nutshell ect, beads. its a cold process. it compresses the metal and makes the metal stronger. sandblasting actually removes much more metal/material than peening and its for a totally different purpose. all it does is strip paint or rust. it gives no hardning effects and leaves the surface differently. while both of them are sprayed from a similar gun by compressed air, thats where the similarity stops.

Hmmm...I wanna do something with mine......Hows it look sanded?

like ass, and i used a dremel...maybe if you worked it by hand with sandpaper....but youd spend eternity hand sanding it.

edit: well, if its just sanded it dosent look so hot, you either need to contunue polishing at least to a dull luster, paint it, or do something. upon further thought, the shot peening process leave little dimples. i may go over it afterwards and polish the tops while the dimples are left textured. it would deff be different