Technical Question for Wheel Manufactures on the Board(Paint Finishes)

[55Designs]

I really want someone to give me a detailed explanation on finishing methods.

I see all these multi toned faced rims, Forgiato, Lexani, Savini, Asanti.

Now based on the prices to get custom paint on the centers or lips its really not that expensive.

What I want to know is the following

1. Are these done by hand with masking tape and spray guns?
2. Is this an automated technique that gets done by machines in the milling process?
3. How is it possible to have chromed grooves in the spokes when the spokes get painted and not even have an edge that you can feel between the two finishes?

I have seen these wheels in person and they are FLAWLESS> I cant see how these can possibly done by hand for the amount of time it would take to just mask out the details.

I heard of stuff called Color Forging from one vendor so can anyone explain this further to close my curious mind every time I browse the Dupont Registry.

[Nine Ball]

Most shops farm out the custom paint work to small companies that specialize in finishing wheels. The more expensive two-tone paint jobs are hand done with careful masking and typical spray guns, using small wheel-sized paint booth stands.

As for the chromed grooves, most of those are highly polished areas that have had a final coat of clear sprayed over the polished area and the masked off color edge, but sometimes they are indeed painted over chrome.