Restoring,Polishing old parts - Please share your tricks!

First post here on this site - you guys are awesome.

I run a side business making custom snowmobile parts - mostly out of billet aluminum and all are polished. You can get a small vibratory polisher from Harbor Freight (18" bowl about $150). The small green pyramids work great for removing rust, grime, corrosion, tooling marks and deburrs. About 24 hrs on with that is sufficient. Then we switch over to a crushed walnut media with poslishing rouge mixed in (the red kind of rouge). About 48 hrs with that media brings everything up to a really nice shine. Then a touch up on a bench grinder with a polshing wheel and grey rouge makes them look like a mirror.

If you are going to do a fair number of parts, I would recommend getting the vibratory bowl and media. It will save you a lot of time and work - make make the job look consistent and professional.

 

One of the best cleaner/polishes I've found is Autosol. For small parts, use your finger with the autosol. The oils in your skin help in the cleaning process. All the black crud washes off your fingers. Get some buffs and wheels for your drill from Harbor Freight(US) or Princess Auto(Canada), and some beer and go to work. Invest in a buff comb to clean the bigger ones, the smaller ones are cheap enough to throw away and buy new. PA sells buffing kits with assorted buffing compounds and buffs for your drill which also yield good results.