Jan, What I understand concerning 'machined' wheels is that first the original paint stripped off. I suppose this could be done by sandblasting. (Before rims are powdercoated they are sandblasted first.) But for machine polishing, I think that sandblasting might impart a texture that would be hard to polish out. If it is a polished surface that you want, I think you would be safer with chemical stripping. I can't quote Warren verbatim, but what I understood of the process is that first they strip the paint off, then put the rim on a lathe (to spin it) and then run an orbital polisher over it while it is spinning. Sand blasting or bead blasting would probably give a very different look which may or may not be bad. Unless you want to try for a highly polished surface, you might as well bead blast the paint off and see how it looks. If you don't like it, you could always have them powder coated after that. Walt Tampa, FL