I suspect that what the poster is cautioning about / worried about, is stress-risers created by the pits in the surface. Although it is a concern in aircraft parts etc., in the wheel surface it has a relatively minor effect on the strength of the wheel.

It is my opinion, that it is better to use a chemical stripper designed for the metal of the wheel (for an alkali metal if mag/al alloy as most are), less likeliood of damage to the wheel.

What you want to avoid, is removing metal with the paint. There are many different types of media from baking soda and walnut shells to silica sand and more. The best choice is one harder than the material being removed (paint), and softer than the base material (wheel), then only heat can damage the wheel surface.

If using sand, you do risk losing metal, and leaving areas sharp, both of which decrease the strength of the wheel and sometimes in critical areas. Even pits in the surface can be the beginning of a crack in highly-stressed areas, polishing and smoothing the metal will actually make it stronger (some parts are tumbled in ceramic or metal media to peen the surface and make the parts smoother and stronger).

What a "stress riser" is in simple terms, is creating a sharp corner, a pit, or other point where any strain/deflection (there is always some, even if only millionths of an inch per rotation) is concentrated because of the sharp corner or weak point. This will concentrate any deflection and stress on that point, eventually leading to embrittlement/failure at that point, a crack from which can propogate across the wheel. When a part is stressed and otherwise properly designed/manufactured, it only takes a tiny defect over many stress-cycles to create a failure.

So it is possible to weaken the wheel with sandblasting, but careful media blasting and polishing afterward can be safe.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff