What can be done to a alloy frame that has been sprayed black, want to remove the paint by use of a wire wheel , but my question is than what can be done to the frame to make it look good, the gun is a great shooter but the looks of that frame drives me nuts, I would like suggestion that a guy can do himself at home .Thanks

I would be reluctant to use a wire wheel.....or anything else on that aluminum frame. If you remove the anodizing that frame is toast......well.....weakened anyway.

I would suggest you contact Customized Creations. He posts over on Sigforum and does very nice refinishing work on aluminum framed pistols. He is not too expensive either and occasionally runs "specials" in the classifieds there. Hope this helps! Good luck! Regards 18DAI

The frames on the 915 and 910 are a hair wider than the slide so the frame takes the bulk of the wear. On my 910, I hand sanded, degreased, and then used Plastik Kote flat black engine enamel ,it's about 9 bucks a can.Gas resistant. dry overnight, then matt clear coat. So far so good. Just make sure when you clean the gun your careful with the outside of the frame and keep hoppes away .
sixthsense

Well I went aganist suggestions and removed the finish on the frame down to the metal , it only took about 45 minutes to do on the wire wheel , I then used some scratch x polish and buffed it off , it took 99% of the scratches off , the gun looks like a total stainless finish now, it looks 100% better plus no more paint nicks , gun looks better than some 5906 I have seen for sale , police trade ins.

To be on the safe side, you should re-anodize the frame. By stripping it the way you did, you may have indavertently removed enough metal to affect the strength and the gun could now be a disaster waiting to happen.

Prior to start I did place a clean rag under my wire wheel & the only metal seen was the wire from my wheel , no other trace metal was seen, I have seen many other pistol with the finish down to the metal from use but do appreciate your reply. Thanks

I Talked with S&W today explained what I had done to the 915 frame, they told me the worst thing that would happen is that I would have scratches left in the frame , but as stated most did polish out , Thanks for the reply.

Why did not you just use paint remover to remove the paint instead of a WIRE WHEEL!?

I really did not want to mess with chemical because of the mess, the wire wheel is not as drastric as one would think I was very pleased with the results, after polishing the frame looks great.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

It's not about the finish being removed from wear, it's the removal by the combination of heat, friction, and abrasion over a very short amount of time. Anodizing is a very simple process, it can be done at home with very minimal equipment, and you could even color anodize the frame. It's your pistol, do with it as you wish. But if it was mine, there is no way I would fire it without insuring the frame is still structurally sound.

I hate the way some kids use the word "whatever" in a dismissive way, but it applies here.

Whatever.

OP, you asked for advice and then didn't want to take it. Most anodizing is 50/50 (50 percent is above the surface as a "coating" and 50% has penetrated the depth of the bare metal). By using a wire wheel you have likely removed all of the coating portion and likely some of that which penetrated.

You would most likely not be able to see the anodizing that was removed, unless it was the type that had been colored during the process.

Don't worry about it though, anodizing only makes the frame stronger and more resistant to frame/slide wear, and reduces future oxidation.

I would never use a wire wheel on a pistol frame.

Here's an excerpt from a good post on this in a pistol smith forum:

I Thank all you experts for your advise ,but after talking with S&W I have no worry about the strength of the frame nor did they.

Did you speak to a gunsmith? Or a customer service rep? Chances are, a customer service rep would not be that knowledgeable about the damage that can be done to an anodized frame by the process you described. And I'm not trying to sound harsh, but you posted about buying this 915 "experimental model" and received advice about staying away from it. You bought it anyway. Then you posted about how to remove the finish and received good advice which you chose to ignore. Then you posted about how you had removed the finish and received advice about insuring that you hadn't damaged the gun, which you also chose to ignore. I'm curious as to what exactly it is you want. If it's for us to applaud your efforts and go "Gee, he was right", well, not going to happen. Because you're not.

I spoke to someone in there metal lab .dept they do have a number on there site so some one like me can get correct information,alloy frames are much stronger than people know , just check the seach box on this forum and perhaps you may learn from the several post from people about alloy frames, but being a expert on the subject maybe you should be an adviser for s&w, I could really care less if you think I am right or not.